President Donald Trump chose Azar as a replacement for Dr. Tom Price, who resigned from being head of the HHS back in September after a series of stories was published showing that Price had abused his privilege within the administration by using private charter jets and government planes rather than commercial airlines to conduct his business. The President has dubbed Azar as being "a star" for better health care, and has promised that he will work toward lowering prescription drug prices and implementing more health care reforms.
But Azar's direct ties to the drug industry have many health freedom advocates concerned that it will just be more of the same. A graduate of Yale Law School, Azar is hardly new to D.C., having served as general counsel and then as deputy secretary of the HHS during the administration of President George W. Bush. Azar has also in the past represented the drug industry before members of Congress whom he was trying to lobby for legislation designed to benefit Big Pharma.
"Azar spent nearly a decade at Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly, where he rose to become president of the pharmaceutical giant's U.S. operations before leaving earlier this year," writes Adam Cancryn and Sarah Karlin-Smith for Politico, noting that former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) is planning to "vigorously oppose" Azar's nomination because of his drug industry ties.
Alex Azar has said he will continue to fight Obamacare
Where Azar is earning considerable praise amongst hardline conservatives, however, is his position with regards to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. Azar will be directly responsible for overseeing Obamacare's implementation and function, though he doesn't agree with the legislation at all and has indicated publicly that he believes it "is failing completely on its own terms."
Like President Trump, Azar had hoped to see Obamacare scrapped entirely with a repeal-and-replace alternative bill. But as many Natural News readers well know, establishment Republicans like Arizona Senator John McCain made sure that this didn't succeed, which means parts of Obamacare are still in use while others, including the individual mandate, are reportedly in the process of being scrapped.
Azar is also unhappy with the way that Obamacare's expansion of Medicaid coverage has progressed, explaining to the media that he would rather see government money sent through "private-sector vehicles" in order to deliver health care to more Americans. So while he may not be a top pick in terms of his past positions at Eli Lilly and the appearance of revolving door politics-as-usual that this creates, he could be helpful in eventually achieving a complete dismantling of Obamacare.
"As a former Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services and private sector executive, Alex Azar has the qualifications and experience to get results," believes Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who currently serves as chairman of the Senate Health Committee. "The Senate Health Committee will promptly schedule a hearing on his nomination," he added about his intention to see that Azar receives confirmation.
The corruption of Big Pharma runs deep. To keep up with the latest developments in the field and how they affect health freedom, visit DangerousMedicine.com.
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