Surgeon general choice a strong advocate for ACA

The choice of Dr. Vivek Murthy to become the next U.S. surgeon general would put a strong and articulate advocate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in a position that typically carries a big public megaphone. Murthy, 36, was named last week as the Obama administration pick to succeed Dr. Regina Benjamin, who stepped down from the position in July. He would be the first Indian-American to serve in that position.

“He is a guy who has really for years been out there advocating for the benefits of the Affordable Care Act, particularly among physicians as well as the general public,” said Dr. Darshak Sanghavi, managing director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution. “I think it may be an effort to shift the conversation away from (the troubled HealthCare.gov website) toward Medicaid expansion and wider insurance availability for people. He's been quite skilled in trying to get that message out.”

A hospitalist and instructor at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston since 2006, Murthy received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and earned an MBA and a medical degree from Yale University. In 1995, he co-founded Visions Worldwide, an organization that works on HIV/AIDS education in India and the U.S. He's been a member of the Surgeon General's Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health since 2011.

Murthy also is co-founder and president of Doctors for America, a national advocacy organization of about 16,000 physicians who, according to the organization's website, work “to improve the health of the nation and to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, high-quality healthcare.” In January 2012, the group filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the individual mandate portion of the health reform law.

Sanghavi said he expected Murthy's strong support of the ACA to be a point of contention for Senate Republicans during his confirmation hearing. At a pro-Obamacare rally in September 2012, Murthy was quoted as saying: “The national debate on healthcare reform is driven by politics, not by the good of our country. Ignorance is an enemy.”

If confirmed, Murthy would be the country's 19th surgeon general.

Follow Steven Ross Johnson on Twitter: @MHSjohnson