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Senate Finance questions HHS nominees on grants, EMTALA and opioid response
Summary
Nominees for two senior Health and Human Services posts faced extended questioning about grant cancellations, emergency-room obligations under EMTALA, Head Start funding and the federal response to the opioid epidemic during a Senate Finance Committee hearing.
The Senate Finance Committee heard opening statements and extensive questioning Thursday for two nominees to senior Health and Human Services posts: Gus Chiarello, nominee for assistant secretary for financial resources, and Michael Stewart, nominee for general counsel.
Committee members pressed the nominees on whether they would follow the law when allocating or withholding federal funds, and on specific programs including Title X family planning, Head Start grants, CDC contracts and SAMHSA grants. Senators also sought commitments on protecting emergency-care obligations under EMTALA and expanding access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder.
The hearing opened with nominees giving biographical remarks. Chiarello said he would “follow the law when it comes to appropriations and managing,” and described his antitrust-and-finance background at the Federal Trade Commission and House Judiciary Committee. Stewart, who previously served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia and as a West Virginia state senator, said he would “follow the law” and described his prosecutorial work on Medicaid fraud and opioid-related cases.
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