Alex M. Azar II Nominated as Next HHS Secretary

Numerous sources are reporting that President Donald Trump has nominated Alex M. Azar II to replace Tom Price as the next secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.

As of 2 p.m. Central time Nov. 13, HHS.gov had not yet confirmed the nomination on its website.

NYTimes reported that Azar worked for Eli Lilly from 2007-2017 and served as deputy at the department under President George W. Bush.

“If he's confirmed, Azar would replace Dr. Tom Price, who resigned from HHS in September after a Politico magazine investigation found that he had taken private charter aircraft on work-related trips at times when cheaper commercial flights were available,” said an NPR story.

LATimes.com noted, “In announcing the appointment, Trump suggested that Azar’s tenure at the drug company would give him insight into how to trim prescription costs, historically a major healthcare complaint.”