President-elect Donald Trump spent some time Monday talking with Dr. Jerome Adams, the Indiana state health commissioner, about health policy issues.
Adams and the president-elect discussed “establishing better doctor-patient relationships, the health care challenges Americans face each day with Obamacare, and ideas for enacting improved healthcare policies,” according to the official Trump transition team description of the encounter.
Mike Pence, the vice president-elect, picked Adams, an assistant professor of clinical anesthesia at the Indiana University medical school, to be his health commissioner in 2014.
The Trump transition team might have brought him to New York City simply to get his ideas about health policy. The transition team “meeting readout” could also be a sign that Adams is a candidate for a high-level health policy job in the next administration.
Either way: Adams is someone who could end up shaping how the next administration approaches efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and to handle other health policy issues.
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Here’s a look at three things to know about Adams’ career and health policy activities:
1. Background
Adams earned a bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and biopsychology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 1997. He then earned a master’s degree in public health from the University of California at Berkley, and a medical degree from the Indiana University medical school.
Adams is a board-certified anesthesiologist.
He is a member of the Indiana Counter Terrorism and Security Task Force. In connection with that role, he has a “secret” level security clearance.
2. Health policy specialties
Adams has been especially active in efforts to prevent the spread of hepatitis C and HIV, and in efforts to fight opioid abuse.
Earlier this year, he gave a presentation on fighting the spread of hepatitis C and HIV in Atlanta, at the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit.