How the next Secretary of Agriculture can affect healthcare

John Gregory | | Health Exec | Policy & Regulations

While plenty of industry attention has been paid to President Donald Trump’s pick to run HHS, Georgia Rep. Tom Price, MD, another politician from the state will also have an impact on healthcare as Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture.

As Kaiser Health News reports, Trump has nominated former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to the post. While the department is often thought to be solely about overseeing the nation’s farms, it also has several important healthcare functions.

For example, Perdue would be in charge of grants for rural medicine. In November 2016, those awards included $420,000 for Georgia’s Community Health Systems “to improve EMS service and access to primary and specialty healthcare, improve health outcomes, reduce non‐emergency emergency department visits and reduce health care expenses.”

For more on how the Agriculture Secretary could affect healthcare policies in the Trump era, read the full article below: 

Trump’s Nominee For Agriculture Has Key Health Role

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John Gregory, Senior Writer

John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.

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