A Conversation with Secretary Xavier Becerra

Moderator: An advocate for improving quality and access in healthcare, Thomas M. Priselac has developed strategic and operational innovations to foster high-quality, safe and efficient care for patients. Under his leadership, Cedars-Sinai has earned an international reputation for quality care, community service, research and education, while evolving from a community hospital to a major health system that continues to expand to better serve patients. Mr. Priselac, who holds the Warschaw Law Chair in Health Care Leadership at Cedars-Sinai, joined the organization in 1979. He has been president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center since 1994, and president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai Health System since its formation in 2017. 

Before being appointed to his current role, Mr. Priselac was executive vice president of Cedars-Sinai from 1988 to 1993. Earlier in his career, he served on the executive staff of Montefiore Hospital in Pittsburgh. 

Active in policy discussions regarding the delivery and financing of healthcare, Mr. Priselac is past chair of the American Hospital Association Board of Trustees and a past chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges. He served as chair of the American Hospital Association during the development of the Affordable Care Act. He also formerly chaired the California Hospital Association and Hospital Association of Southern California boards of trustees. 

His civic engagements include serving as a member of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Board, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, the Coalition for the Economy and Jobs, and the Civic Alliance. Mr. Priselac has received numerous awards for his leadership in healthcare and his commitment to improving the health of the underserved, including the American Hospital Association’s Distinguished Service Award, B’nai B’rith International’s National Healthcare Leadership Award, the Special Needs Network’s Distinguished Community Champion Corporate Leadership Award and the Charles R. Drew University Board of Trustees Medal of Honor. 

Mr. Priselac writes and speaks on a variety of policy issues related to the delivery and financing of healthcare, healthcare quality and safety, and the adoption and implementation of information technology. He is an adjunct professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, where he teaches principles of organizational leadership. 

Mr. Priselac earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania and a master’s in public health, health services administration and planning from the University of Pittsburgh. 

Speaker: Secretary Becerra 

Secretary Becerra served 12 terms in Congress as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. During his tenure, he was the first Latino to serve as a member of the powerful Committee on Ways and Means, he served as Chairman of his party's caucus, and as the Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Health. 

For over two decades in Congress, Secretary Becerra worked so that every family had the assurance of care that his own family had when he was growing up. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, Secretary Becerra introduced legislation -- the Medicare Savings Programs Improvement Act of 2007 -- that expanded cost-sharing subsidies for low-income seniors who receive both Medicare and Medicaid benefits by increasing the amount of resources they could receive. He championed provisions of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 that required physicians who perform imaging to be accredited and trained to ensure patient safety. And he was one of the original cosponsors of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) which strengthened Medicare and lowered costs for seniors. 

As Attorney General of the state of California, Secretary Becerra helped to promote competition by taking on a number of pharmaceutical companies that restricted competition through "pay-for-delay" schemes, held several companies accountable for legal violations for not protecting patients' health information, and took action early in the pandemic to keep Californians safe by using his authority to protect workers from exposure to COVID-19, secure key safeguards for frontline health care workers' rights, and take on fraudsters trying to take advantage of people during the pandemic. In addition, he cracked down on Medicare and Medicaid fraud, acted to combat the opioid crisis, including holding drug makers accountable, won an unprecedented $575 million antitrust settlement against one of the largest health systems in California, and he led the three-year federal court fight to save the ACA and with it, the protections of the 133 million Americans with preexisting conditions. 

Born in Sacramento Secretary Becerra is the son of working-class parents. He was the first in his family to receive a four-year degree, earning his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Stanford University. He earned his Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School. His mother was born in Jalisco, Mexico and immigrated to the United States after marrying his father, a day laborer turned construction worker. He is married to Dr. Carolina Reyes, and he is proud of his three daughters: Clarisa, Olivia and Natalia, and son-in-law Ivan.