Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Senate Finance Committee chairman, announced Wednesday that Becerra will testify next week. Becerra will face the GOP-controlled House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 29.
Biden has been touting efforts to reduce health costs that were included in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, and his budget request would go even further. He did so most recently in Las Vegas where he boasted that his administration’s actions would allow both seniors and the federal government to save money.
For example, while the IRA will allow Medicare to negotiate the cost of 10 prescription drugs, Biden’s budget would make more drugs eligible and allow the negotiations to happen sooner. The request would also raise a Medicare tax on people earning more than $400,000, and cap insulin costs at $35 for everyone with private insurance.
Becerra’s appearance in the House will mark the first time since his appointment that he’s faced a panel controlled by Republicans. In a statement, Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and health subcommittee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) gave an indication of what to expect.
“[Biden’s] budget request doubles down on massive inflationary spending, would crush medical innovation for new cures, attacks states’ rights to manage their Medicaid needs, forces taxpayers to fund abortion, and fails to restore trust in our public health agencies,” they said.
“Secretary Becerra owes it to the American people to explain why the Biden administration is placing these priorities over lowering health care costs, combating the fentanyl crisis, and protecting the dignity of all human life.”
Yet budget hearings are rarely just about the budget, and the Energy and Commerce Committee has been asking HHS for answers on issues like the administration’s COVID-19 response, the origins of the virus, as well as how the agency handles unaccompanied migrant children.
