Becerra will also highlight the need to shift from an illness-care system to a wellness-care system that focuses on preventing disease and injury. The agency is also actively engaged in issues surrounding Medicaid renewals, smoking cessation, reproductive health and rights, LGBTQI+ protections, and marijuana scheduling.
The Headliners event begins with lunch in the Holeman Lounge at 12:30 p.m. Remarks begin at 1 p.m., followed by a question-and-answer session ending at 2 p.m. National Press Club members may purchase tickets for $20. Non-member tickets cost $30.
Click here to purchase tickets.
To reserve a table of eight and for all ticketing-related questions, please email [email protected]. All guest information must be confirmed 72 hours before the start of the event. Tickets must be paid for at the time of purchase.
To submit a question in advance for the speaker, put HHS in the subject line and email it to [email protected]. The deadline for submitting questions in advance is 10 a.m. on the day of the address.
As secretary of HHS, Becerra runs the largest federal department with a budget of about $130 billion in discretionary authority and $1.7 trillion in mandatory authority. Its scope includes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which manages Medicare coverage for more than 60 million seniors and persons with disabilities. CMS also runs the Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Programs, which enroll nearly 90 million Americans with annual program costs of nearly $650 billion.
HHS also manages the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Indian Health Service, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Administration for Children and Families, among other agencies and administrations.
Before becoming HHS secretary, Becerra served 12 terms in Congress where he was a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and the ranking member on the Subcommittees on Health and Social Security.
This event was rescheduled after it was postponed on Oct. 26, 2023.