Washington, Mar 10:The bitterly divided American Senate seemed to be advancing Indian-American Seema Verma, President Donald Trump’s nominee, to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Senators voted 54-44 yesterday on her nomination, which needed only a simple majority to overcome the initial procedural hurdle, according to local media reports. The Senate could take a final vote on Ms Verma later today while confirmation is expected only next week. “The final confirmation vote on her nomination has been scheduled for Monday evening, March 13,” a source said. Democrats have opposed Ms Verma’s nomination after trying unsuccessfully to pin her down on a number of policy issues during her hearing, including if or how she would reform the programs. Some Democrat leaders said she did not answer their questions either. What happens to ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion is a key concern of Senate Republicans, who have warned they could vote against a repeal bill over the issue. Ms Verma is thus expected to play a large roll in any attempt to reform either Medicare or Medicaid. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been quoted in the media as stating that she would be “invaluable” as lawmakers move forward on repealing and replacing ObamaCare. “My hope is Ms Verma will be able to focus more time and attention than her recent predecessors to the core functions of the agency,” he said. “She’s unquestionably and uniquely qualified for her position,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has said. According to another report, Ms Verma, president, CEO and founder of SVC, Inc, is a national health policy consulting company, first faced the Senate Committee on Finance in February for a lengthy hearing. Meanwhile, the Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) was said to be in favor of Verma’s nomination, calling her “a highly-qualified nominee,” praise for which he said “there’s [no one] who reasonably disputes that.”
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