It was still a mystery at deadline who President-elect Donald Trump might pick to run HHS and its agencies. Sources told Modern Healthcare that Andrew Bremberg, an adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, would lead the transition team on healthcare policy. There was also some talk that Bremberg himself could be tapped for a healthcare post. Here are the biggest names floated for HHS secretary amid a flurry of speculation.
Speculation runs rampant on HHS picks
Jindal, named one of Modern Healthcare's Up & Comers in 1997, was assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at HHS during the first term of George W. Bush. He went on to be elected governor of Louisiana, where he declined to expand Medicaid under the ACA and hired private contractors to run the state's safety net hospitals. He mounted a failed bid for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.
Carson became famous for performing novel and complicated procedures as a pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Medicine and as a motivational speaker recounting his personal story. He was briefly a front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination this year and then became one of Trump's closest advisers.
Gingrich is best known for leading the conservative takeover of the House in 1994 and then presiding over the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. After leaving office he ran a consultancy called the Center for Health Transformation and took a special interest in spurring the adoption of electronic health records. The center filed for bankruptcy in 2012.
Bagger served as chief of staff for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie before joining drugmaker Celgene as VP for corporate affairs and market access. Bagger reportedly was working closely with Christie on transition planning leading up to the election. Christie's role, however, appears to be fading. On Friday Trump replaced him with Vice President-elect Mike Pence as head of the transition team.
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