COVID Update December 7: The first tranche of Joe Biden’s health team was announced today.

The picks have been roundly cheered by everyone in health care. They send several key messages. 1/

The Department of HHS is housed in a building named for a Minnesotan & former VP, Hubert Humphrey— a man who believed the true character of the country was how we cared for the old, the poor & the sick. 2/

But for the last 4 years, HHS has meant health for only a few & forgetting our humanity to all. 3/

Trump’s HHS has overseen the child separation facilities. And while they didn’t create the policy of separation, they did absolutely nothing to address it. 4/

Trump’s HHS made it more difficult for immigrants— in the country legally— to get health care. For women to get basic public health access, for poor women to get access to abortions & ppl w low paying jobs to get Medicaid. 5/

Trump’s HHS did 3 things above all else:
1. They built discrimination into the programs. They made discriminating against transgendered people easy & legal as a prime example. 6/

2. Trump’s HHS rendered a moral judgment on being poor— saying that ppl need to work 30 hours to get Medicaid. If not they are considered lazy & unworthy. 7/

If Ayn Rand & Jerry Falwell Jr had a baby it would be the personification of Trump’s health care program.

Most proudly I assume, they have tried every possible way to eliminate the ACA & pre-ex protections. They’ve tried the courts, executive orders, sabotage & Congress. 8/

3. This leads us to the third feature of Trump’s HHS— management of the pandemic. Lack of competence; overruling scientists; demeaning any dissenters.

This has been one of the major stories of the pandemic. 9/

In the face of this, who does @JoeBiden choose to run HHS. @AGBecerra.

The face of justice. The face of equality. The champion of people getting discriminated against. 10/

My experience with Becerra dates back to when he was in Congress. We were rolling out the ACA and at a point when people who had a tough time producing paychecks or IDs very easily we’re having coverage terminated. 11/

Xavier called me on my cell phone once/week to see how much progress we were making getting people the health care they need. He wanted to check on progress & wanted to know how he could help. 12/

He was concerned about lower income people & non-English speakers getting left behind. He has been part of passing the law & wanted to make sure it worked right. When he became AG of California he became the principal defender of the law when Trump wouldn’t. 13/

Of all the positive reactions to his appointment the ones that meant the most to me were from advocates who have fought so hard these last years for the lives of so many. @ElenaHung202 @morethanmySLE @mattbc’s reactions, among many, were so powerful. 14/

Day 1 at HHS will be spent reversing all the discrimination by design. Days 2 through whenever will be spent reversing institutional discrimination. Making Trump’s HHS & unrecognizable thing of the past. 15/

Day 1 will also be spent pushing forward a sea change in responding to the virus. Not “I give up”, but “we will beat this.”

Not lies & squashing dissent but putting out the facts for the public & following science. 16/

A focus on the people most impacted by the virus & treating every life as if it matters as much as every other life. 17/

If you think Becerra will tolerate kids in cages, think again.
If you think he will allow ppl with pre-existing conditions to lose their insurance, good luck. 18/

Health care & justice— the vision of Revered King— will be a guiding light if I know him. The morality of Humphrey. The sacrifices of our health care workers. The lives that have been lost in the pandemic & those who need recovery. 19/

HHS oversees FDA, NIH, CDC & CMS. Those agencies all need to work together, to be reformed, to have their expert civil servant workforces appreciated. It will feel a long time coming. 20/

None of the things he has to do are easy. And that’s why he’s the right person for the job.

We didn’t just elect a president. We elected a team. When the EPA, State, HUD, Education, Interior are equivalently led, we will be a step closer to a country that works for all of us.22

And frankly just plain works. /end