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It’s customary in the nation’s capital to hail members of the incoming administration by telling everyone in town how close you are to them. So many in conservative Washington lobbying circles and elsewhere are busy touting their relationships with President-elect Donald Trump and his advisers. There’s a benefit to proximity to power, especially now. At a time when nobody really knows how the Trump administration will regulate drugs and medical devices, fund scientific research, or repeal or replace the Affordable Care Act, relationships with the newcomers are viewed as critical to getting one’s issues on the table. (Kaplan, 11/15)

President-elect Donald Trump is considering Rep. Tom Price, the powerful Republican orthopedic surgeon from Georgia, as a potential HHS secretary, according to news reports. Politico first reported the story Tuesday. Price, an early Trump supporter, sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over healthcare policy. Price has been an outspoken critic of the Affordable Care Act, which Trump promised to repeal on the campaign trail, but he has since softened on the idea of replacing it completely. Price sponsored healthcare legislation that would repeal the ACA and provide refundable tax credits adjusted by age, not income, to buy health insurance. (Herman, 11/15)

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has told President-elect Donald Trump that he isn't interested in serving as secretary of Health and Human Services, a Carson ally confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday.  Business manager and close friend Armstrong Williams said Carson won't join the incoming Trump administration and would only serve as an unofficial adviser.  Circa on Tuesday reported that Carson had been offered the position, citing Williams. But Williams told The Hill that no specific offer had been made. (Kamisar, 11/15)