Becerra confirmation delay is hobbling the fight against COVID-19: Sebelius and Shalala

The country is in the middle of a bleak COVID winter. We have surpassed 427,000 deaths from the coronavirus, and President Joe Biden warns that we'll reach over 500,000 next month — even as millions of Americans are getting COVID vaccines.

This is a crisis, and having each served as our nation’s top health official, we understand the critical importance of having a competent and effective team ready to solve it.

Biden and his administration are inheriting some good news — especially on the vaccine front — but the mountain of challenges is daunting. Unfortunately, there are some in the Senate who are delaying the confirmation process for Biden's nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

HHS plays the central role in coordinating the national response to health crises like COVID. It oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where scientists and experts develop the guidelines Americans need to stay safe; the Food and Drug Administration, which reviews trials and ultimately decides whether to approve treatments and vaccines; and the National Institutes of Health, where, among other important programs, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases conducts its critical work.

Strong leaders needed in pandemic

The department manages eight-, nine- or even 10-figure outreach campaigns to the public on everything from prevention to vaccination, a top priority as we try to establish trust and utilization in a vaccine. It works hand-in-hand with the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, among others, to coordinate production, procurement, and distribution of tests and personal protective equipment, to ensure they are getting to the frontlines where they are needed most.

Strong leaders are exactly what our federal agencies need right now, and in the fight against the virus, other than the President, there is perhaps no job more critical than Secretary of Health and Human Services. As soon as possible, we need someone in that role who understands these challenges and can inspire the career public servants in the department to pull together for the fight of their lives: defeating COVID-19.

Becerra is that leader. A congressman for two decades and a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee overseeing Medicare and numerous other government health programs, he is a supremely qualified pick. But most importantly, he has a passion for service and has dedicated his entire career to expanding health care for those who need it most, including in underserved communities.

These issues are personal for him. In Congress, Becerra represented a largely Latino district that had the second highest uninsured rate in the country. That’s what motivated him to help write and pass the Affordable Care Act, and thanks to the law, the uninsured rate in his district was cut in half. He helped expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program and strengthen Medicaid, programs that are so important within HHS and for millions of lower-income Americans who rely on them for coverage.

He also wrote legislation to improve Medicare that expanded cost-sharing subsidies for low-income seniors, made requirements of physicians to ensure patient safety, and raised the cap on benefits for patients receiving physical therapy.

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As California attorney general, Becerra has made health care a priority — taking on opioid manufacturers responsible for the addiction epidemic and pharmaceutical companies preventing patients from access to lower-cost drugs. He has expanded the legal teams to investigate Medicaid fraud, elder abuse, and the provider consolidation that jacks up prices on patients, including securing a half-billion dollar settlement with Northern California’s largest hospital chain, Sutter Health.

Importantly, Becerra has done much of this work on a bipartisan basis. For example, he and Louisiana’s Republican attorney general led an effort to make Remdesivir, the promising COVID-19 treatment, more readily available to consumers.

A Latino perspective at HHS

Becerra also would bring unique, and historic, experience to the job. As the first Latino to ever lead HHS, his personal perspective is desperately needed. He has deep familiarity with the disparities in our federal health programs, and as COVID disproportionately infects and kills people of color, he will be a leader who ensures our government prioritizes equity in everything from access to health insurance to receipt of the vaccine.

Traditionally, nominees are given fair and speedy hearings. When we were nominated by Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to lead HHS, that was certainly the case. Each of us had Senate hearings within a month of our nominations, and both of us were confirmed in under two months.

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Becerra was nominated on Dec. 7, but is still awaiting a hearing. He is an extraordinarily qualified nominee, as evidenced in part by his endorsement by the American Medical Association, and in the middle of this pandemic, it is dangerous to slow his appointment. Delaying him means delaying filling all the other key roles under him at HHS that are critical for our pandemic response — the assistant secretaries overseeing divisions and programs responsible for getting help to the frontlines, the sub-agency directors needed to work on vaccines and testing, and the public health communicators who need to be out in full force conveying the benefits of a vaccine and clear, consistent guidelines on testing, masking, distancing, and other preventive measures.

Without the secretary, we will face a backlog that will slow our national response to this crisis, upend progress already being made, and prevent action when it is needed most. The Senate should move on this nomination as soon as possible and put in place this qualified nominee who can help keep us safe and healthy, end this crisis, and get us back to our lives.

Kathleen Sebelius (@SecSebelius), a former Kansas governor, was the 21st Secretary of Health and Human Services, serving from 2009 to 2014. Donna Shalala (@DonnaShalala), a former Florida congresswoman, was the 18th Secretary of Health and Human Services, serving from 1993 to 2001.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID battle: Becerra health secretary holdup is dangerous in pandemic