President-elect Donald Trump said he’ll nominate U.S.Representative Tom Price, one of the main architects oflegislation to repeal and replace Obamacare, to be secretary of the Department ofHealth and Human Services, the first of multiple Cabinetannouncements expected Tuesday.

“He is exceptionally qualified to shepherd our commitment torepeal and replace Obamacare and bringaffordable and accessible health care to every American,” Trumpsaid in a statement.

Trump also announced Seema Verma, founder of health policyconsulting firm SVC Inc., as his pick for administrator of theCenters for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Verma has “extensiveexperience redesigning Medicaid programs,” Trump’s office said inthe statement -- including in Indiana, where she worked withGovernor Mike Pence, now the vice president-elect.

The two nominees are “the dream team that will transform ourhealthcare system for the benefit of all Americans,” Trump said.Another Cabinet announcement will be made this afternoon, Trumpspokesman Jason Miller said on CNN.

Orthopedic surgeon

Price, 62, an orthopedic surgeon from Georgia, was one ofthe original House Tea Party caucus members and hasserved since 2015 as chairman of the House Budget Committee,where he was a leader of efforts dismantle the health law, alsoknown as the Affordable Care Act. Trump said during the campaignthat he wants to get rid of the law.

“There is much work to be done to ensure we have a health caresystem that works for patients, families, and doctors; that leadsthe world in the cure and prevention of illness; and that is basedon sensible rules to protect the well-being of the country whileembracing its innovative spirit,” Price said in a statement.

If Price is confirmed for the HHS job by theRepublican-controlled Senate, his departure from Congress would capa congressional career that began in 2005 after his election by anAtlanta-area House district. Price hadserved previously as a state lawmaker, rising to becomeSenate majority leader.

Price grew up in Michigan and graduated from the University ofMichigan and its medical school. He worked for almost 20 years as asurgeon. His wife, Betty Price, was elected to the Georgia House ofRepresentatives in July 2015.

Obamacare replacement

Price was chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a caucusof the most conservative members in the U.S. House, in 2009 and2010. In May 2015, he proposed a bill to replace Obamacare thatfocused on tax credits, expanding health savings accounts andrevising laws governing medical malpractice.

Incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York saidin a statement Price’s nomination “is akin to asking the fox toguard the hen house.”

“Congressman Price has proven to be far out of the mainstream ofwhat Americans want when it comes to Medicare, the Affordable CareAct, and Planned Parenthood,” Schumer said.

Medicare overhaul

Trump’s nominees likely will have to manage an overhaul ofMedicare, the health-care system for theelderly and disabled, that’s planned by Republican lawmakers. HouseSpeaker Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, has proposed toprivatize Medicare and provide seniors with vouchers to help coverhealth-insurance premiums. Price said Nov. 17 that Republicans planto use a procedural measure known as reconciliation to make thechanges to Medicare in 2017.

Price is a member of the Doctors Caucus, which recently hasraised concern over a proposal from the Centers for Medicare andMedicaid Services for a new payment system for physicians. Thegroup said the system has the potential to “overcomplicate analready burdensome and complex” system.

In early 2011, the House Ethics Committee announced it haddropped an investigation of Price and two other lawmakers intotheir fundraising appeals to Wall Street firms at the same timethey were considering legislation to overhaul financialregulation.

The independent Office of Congressional Ethics had asked thecommittee to look because each of the three had “solicited oraccepted contributions in a manner which gave the appearance” theywere linked to an official act. Yet the Ethics Committee concludedthat their positions on the legislation “were not connected tofundraising activities.”

Pence ally

Verma was the “architect” of Pence’s “signature health-careplan” who “quietly shaped much of Indiana’s public health-carepolicy” for more than a decade, according to a 2014 report bythe Indianapolis-based IndyStar on concerns about potentialconflicts of interest in her consulting work with a division ofHewlett-Packard Enterprises Co., one of Indiana’s largest Medicaidvendors.

Verma said she had no role in HP’s state contracts, according tothat report, and a Pence spokeswoman said Verma’s “advice andcounsel” was appreciated.

She received a master’s degree in public health with aconcentration in health policy and management from Johns HopkinsUniversity and a bachelor’s degree in life sciences from theUniversity of Maryland, according to the announcement.

Copyright 2018 Bloomberg. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or redistributed.