The Trump administration is bringing on a new official to focus on health care affordability, the Department of Health and Human Services tells Axios.
Why it matters: The personnel move suggests the administration is attempting to respond to voters’ concerns about health care costs ahead of the midterm elections.
Driving the news: HHS has appointed Casey Mulligan as chief economist and chief regulatory officer. He’ll advise Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other agency leaders on affordability issues.
The big picture: Health care affordability is emerging as a key political issue as health care costs continue to rise.
- Policymakers and think tanks on both sides of the aisle have been responding with aggressive policy ideas, though tackling underlying health costs would be an enormously difficult political endeavor.
Details: Mulligan was on the Council of Economic Advisers during the first Trump administration and was most recently the U.S. Small Business Administration’s chief counsel for advocacy.