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Becerra’s HHS Agenda: Fantasy and Tall Tales, Not Policy

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra tried to defend the administration’s failed policies before the Committee on Education and Labor. We set the record straight on:

CLAIM: We provided guidance to support the safe return to the classroom, enabling schools nationwide to reopen.

FACT: Republicans fought to reopen schools when the low risk of COVID to children and the tremendous harm of school closures became clear. Even after Operation Warp Speed successfully delivered life-saving vaccines to the American public in record time, Democrats continued to bow to teachers unions and kept schools closed. Available data confirms what many Republican lawmakers already knew to be true—school closures severely affect the mental, emotional, and physical health of students.

CLAIM: The President has outlined a bold strategy for tackling the nation’s mental health crisis. 

FACT: American children and teens are years behind in school, and many are suffering from increased rates of depression, anxiety, and attempted suicides because of this administration’s permanent pandemic mentality. Many teens even reported increased exposure to violence at home while being denied access to school, a place many students look at as a sanctuary.

CLAIM: HHS has launched new efforts to protect vulnerable communities who bear the brunt of climate change.

FACT: Overdoses impact millions of Americans and devastate communities across the country. Yet this administration is laser focused on its radical green agenda instead of giving this border emergency and spiraling health care issue the attention it deserves.

CLAIM: Fixing the “family glitch” will expand access to health care and save taxpayers money.
 
FACT: No previous administration has ever found the legal justification to amend what Democrats call the “family glitch.” This is another attempt by the Biden administration to push more Americans off employer-sponsored insurance and on to Obamacare exchanges. Additionally, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that this “fix” will cost taxpayers $45 billion over 10 years.
 
CLAIM: Association Health Plans (AHPs) are junk.
 
FACT: AHPs enable small companies to offer their employees affordable health insurance by granting them access to multiple employer welfare arrangements. This is a lifeline for small businesses. Calling these plans “junk insurance” is an insult and shows Secretary Becerra’s contempt for employer-sponsored insurance. 
 
CLAIM: We will work to lower the costs of prescription drugs, such as by capping the cost of insulin at $35 per month, and to allow Medicare to negotiate payment for certain high-cost drugs.
 
FACT: Democrats’ gambit to control drug prices is a massive power grab. It would also raise the cost of health care premiums on American workers and families and discourage innovators from continuing to develop life-saving therapies and treatments. 
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