Statement by HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra on President Biden’s State of the Union Address

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra released the following statement after President Biden’s State of the Union address: 
 
“Tonight, the President shared with the American people the historic achievements of his first year in office and his vision for what we can achieve as a country. There is no doubt that we have faced tremendous challenges during this past year like the global COVID-19 pandemic, but the President has confronted these challenges forcefully by building unity and leveraging all tools at our disposal to save and improve lives. 
 
“We’ve made tools to combat the COVID-19 pandemic accessible to everyone – providing hundreds of millions of vaccine doses, at-home test kits, and high-quality masks to the American people for free. In addition, we’ve worked tirelessly to answer the President’s call to reduce health care costs, expand access to high-quality, affordable health care coverage, and strengthen health care services for the American people. We’ve also worked to end surprise medical bills, make hearing devices affordable, and curb high prescription drug costs. 
 
“I’m deeply proud of the progress we’ve made. I will continue to advance the vision President Biden and Vice President Harris have for these initiatives and many others announced tonight – including strengthening mental health care, improving care and conditions at our nursing homes, and supporting underserved communities. Our work to improve health and human services across the nation isn’t finished, but if we work together, we will build back better – and healthier too.”