This week’s US presidential election was a turning point, according to former US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II.

“Tuesday’s election was the marker — the line in the sand — of a generational political shift in this country,” Azar said.

Azar delivered his remarks to healthcare staffing executives Nov. 7 at SIA’s Healthcare Staffing Summit in Dallas. Azar served as Health and Human Services secretary during the Trump administration and was the agency’s general counsel and deputy secretary during the George Bush administration.

One big shift: Characteristics of two major US political parties are flipping, Azar said, with consequences for the healthcare industry. On the Democratic side, Azar sees “corporatism” with a focus on big government, big unions and big activity by corporations. “We’re seeing it being more elite and educated as a coalition,” he said.

The Republican party is the opposite.

“It’s individualism, populism. It’s the heartland. It’s very working class,” he said. “It’s less on the international front.”

The Republican party’s constituencies include family-owned businesses, ranchers, farmers and the more upstart parts of Silicon Valley, venture capital and private equity.

“Everything’s in flux right now,” Azar said. While 10 years ago, pharma, hospitals and insurance companies may have been Republican constituencies, “now, some of them — like pharma — don’t quite have a home.” As Republicans move away from large pharma, the Democratic party is still not a proponent of that industry.

“The hospitals that you work with as customers, they are probably going to be much more aligned on the Democratic side and administrations,” he said.

Those working in healthcare tend to think of it as the center of the universe, Azar said. But this election focused on immigration, inflation and foreign policy. As a result, whoever occupies healthcare-related posts in the administration will become more influential as they will advise on its direction.

Azar also touched on the Affordable Care Act, which he said he believes will remain in place given the difficulty of taking something away from people who have come to rely on it.

And he thanked healthcare staffing firms, saying the healthcare system could not have made it through the pandemic without their services.

“Please convey to your teams back home my gratitude as former secretary for everything that you all have done,” Azar said.