Stephen Parente, a healthcare economist, has been nominated to be HHS' assistant secretary of planning and evaluation.
Parente predicted in 2014 that the Affordable Care Act would collapse because of high premiums.
The University of Minnesota professor would fill a post vacated in June by Harvard economist Richard Frank. In that role, Parente would be a principal advisor to HHS Secretary Dr. Tom Price, consulting on policy, legislative efforts, strategic planning and research.
The White House named Parente Friday among six people for open posts in the administration.
In a 2014 Wall Street Journal commentary titled "The Short, Unhappy Life of ObamaCare," Parente predicted that the number of uninsured in America would rise to 40 million by 2024 because of rising premiums under the ACA. Today, the number is more than 25 million.
Parente is familiar with the work of Price. In 2013-2014, he analyzed Price's ACA replacement proposal in conjunction with the conservative think-tank American Action Forum. Price then was a U.S. Representative elected by Georgia residents.
