ADA supports Becerra for HHS secretary

The American Dental Association is “enthusiastically” supporting Xavier Becerra for secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is urging the Senate to promptly confirm his nomination.

In a Jan. 12 letter to leaders of the Senate Finance Committee, ADA President Daniel J. Klemmedson, D.D.S., M.D., and Executive Director Kathleen T. O’Loughlin, D.M.D., noted that Mr. Becerra, California’s attorney general and a former 12-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, has an “in-depth understanding” of the country’s health care system.

“He knows firsthand how legally complex an administrative process can become between providers, patients and payers,” Drs. Klemmedson and O’Loughlin wrote. “Much more than that, he knows that dentistry is essential health care for Americans. The ADA urges the Senate to promptly confirm Attorney General Becerra and looks forward to working with him in his new position.”

Follow all of the ADA’s advocacy efforts at ADA.org/advocacy.