Agency Watchdog Slams Ex-HHS Chief Tom Price On Costly Travel

A successful orthopedic surgeon before winning a congressional seat from Atlanta’s 6th District, Tom Price rose to become one of the top GOP experts on budget and health care issues. But as secretary of Health and Human Services, he never produced a health care plan to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act.

Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press file

The government wasted at least $341,000 on travel by ousted Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, including booking charter flights without considering cheaper scheduled airlines, an agency watchdog said Friday.

The HHS inspector general’s long-awaited report chastised the department for flouting federal travel rules, which require officials to book trips in the most cost-efficient way for taxpayers.

The inspector general estimated that the government spent nearly $1.2 million on Price’s travel during his seven months in office. That included more than $700,000 in military flights on two foreign and two domestic trips, as well as more than $480,000 for various domestic trips by private chartered aircraft.