President-elect Donald Trump chose Republican South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney to head the Office of Management and Budget — a choice likely to impact healthcare policy in the next administration.
Rep. Mulvaney serves on the House Financial Services Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Co-author of the Cut, Cap and Balance Act to slash federal spending, Rep. Mulvaney is known for his fiscal conservatism. This stance may spill over into the healthcare arena. As director of the OMB, Rep. Mulvaney will likely want to cut Medicare and Medicaid spending through premium support and block-grants, respectively, according to Politico.
He's also a fierce opponent of the ACA. "I have voted many times to repeal [the ACA] and I will continue to work toward repealing that law and replacing it with solutions that work for everyone," Rep. Mulvaney writes on his website. "Obamacare has created an environment where most people can afford to buy health insurance but can't afford to go to the doctor because of very high deductibles. This 'solution' has created more problems than it has solved and we need to repeal it and start over."
Lastly, Rep. Mulvaney helped found the House Freedom Caucus, according to Politico and The New York Times. The Freedom Caucus, a group of House conservatives, issued a special report outlining a number of recommended policy updates for Mr. Trump's first 100 days, more than 50 of which pertain to healthcare. Due to Rep. Mulvaney's involvement with the caucus, this document — available here — offers a glimpse of his healthcare priorities. The recommendations range from removing HHS restrictions on sunlamps to revising the physician fee schedule to reversing a rule requiring certain preventive health services be covered by employer-sponsored health insurance plans.
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