Alex Azar

“Patients who face long odds and terminal illnesses do not always have access to the latest drugs in clinical trials. They don't want to give up, but they don't have years to wait for new drugs to receive FDA approval.”

“Named after four activists and their families who fought for its passage, the Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try Act of 2017 establishes a new pathway for access to unapproved, investigational treatments. These four Americans fought for the Right to Try because they didn't want to give up.”

“Americans are blessed with a can-do spirit - we don't give up, even in the face of a daunting challenge like a life-threatening illness.”

“The best advice I have is, actually present yourself at a legal border crossing and make your case. Cross illegally and get arrested, and your children will be given to us. That's the simple fact, I'm afraid.”

“There's no such thing as a legal right to break patents in the United States.”

“The Medicare program is a great promise we've made to our seniors. But if you start expanding that out to everybody else, you're going to undermine the employer insurance market.”

“Immigration policy isn't really what we at HHS do.”

“Since Obamacare was enacted, affordable, individualized health care coverage choices have all but disappeared for many Americans.”

“Proposing direct discounts at the pharmacy counter is just part of the Trump agenda for fairer, more transparent prices in health care.”

“Health coverage in the form of short-term, limited-duration plans has long been widely available to individuals in circumstances where they are unable to access traditional coverage, such as those between jobs or students taking a semester off from school.”

“We at HHS are working with President Trump on a comprehensive plan to bring down the high price of prescription drugs.”

“What one has created by regulation, one could address by regulation.”

“When prices are transparent and competition is encouraged, consumers win. We believe that can prove true in health care as it has in every other area of the American economy.”

“Association health plans will actually bring down the cost of insurance.”

“Obamacare imposed an unprecedented level of regulation and standardization on individual-market health insurance all across America. This has left many consumers in an intolerable predicament - in some cases, having to spend up to a third or even half of their income on premiums and deductibles before insurance kicks in.”

“President Trump has exposed the dirty secret of drug pricing: There is a shadowy third player in the transaction between patients and their pharmacists: middlemen who have taken a big kickback from the drug manufacturer, which may or may not be reflected in patients' out-of-pocket costs.”

“It is one of the great acts of American generosity and charity, what we are doing for these unaccompanied kids who are smuggled into our country or come across illegally.”

“Talk to your doctor if you or your kids haven't been vaccinated, and follow their recommendations - please.”

“Vaccines are safe, effective, and lifesaving.”

“The 21st century is a golden age of personalization. Whether it's customizing our smart phones with our favorite apps or ordering exactly what we need when we need it from Amazon, we increasingly expect a unique customer experience, not a one-size-fits-all model.”