KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Becerra urges Congress to expand Medicare, address Rx prices

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jul 13 2021

The Biden administration stands ready to work with Congress to address drug prices and expand Medicare, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a wide-ranging interview with "What the Health?" on Tuesday.

The former California attorney general also said his top priority while in office is to attack health disparities. "There are a whole bunch of Black and brown communities that have never had the kind of access to care that others have," he said. "And when they come to the doctor, they come with the kind of conditions that show they didn't have health care before."

Becerra, who before coming to Washington successfully led a coalition of Democratic attorneys general in defending the Affordable Care Act from efforts to have it declared unconstitutional, said as secretary he's looking forward to further expanding the 2010 health law.

"Now we're playing offense," he said. "We've got the ball and we've got to march it down the field, and we intend to because there are many Americans who still need good coverage."

Check back later for a full transcript of the conversation.

To hear all our podcasts, click here.

And subscribe to KHN’s What the Health? on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts.