At a news conference Thursday, President-elect Barack Obama formally nominated former Senator Tom Daschle to be the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. He also announced that the South Dakota Democrat will lead a White House healthcare reform team.
Obama had unofficially floated Daschle's nomination on Nov. 19.
The president-elect also announced his choice of Jean Lambrew to be deputy director of HHS. A senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and an associate professor of public affairs at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Lambrew co-authored a book with Daschle titled "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis."
Obama said Daschle has fresh ideas and is one of foremost healthcare experts today, bringing expertise and the ability to work across the aisle.
"He has trust from folks on every angle on this issue," Obama said. "Tom is a no drama guy" who will lead with decency, graciousness and pragmatism.
Obama said the nation faces "a time when there is so much at stake," yet fixing healthcare is one of his top priorities. "It's hard to overstate the importance of this work," he said.
This month, the president-elect's transition team has scheduled grassroots healthcare reform discussions at volunteers' homes across America. Daschle will attend several of the meetings.
When asked how America can afford to invest in healthcare during the current economy, Obama said, "How can we afford not to?" He said he has talked to families on the campaign trail facing bankruptcy over medical expenses, and that small businesses are suffering from healthcare costs.
Healthcare reform "has to be intimately woven into our overall economic recovery plan," he said. "It's part of the emergency."
Obama said he plans to achieve a savings in healthcare over the long term, even if money must be invested in the short term. He will begin by investing in healthcare IT to cut costs.
His healthcare reform plan calls for $10 billion a year in funding for healthcare IT over five years. He also said he will take a hard look at Medicare Advantage as a program not delivering "bang for its buck."
Obama also plans to roll back tax breaks for the wealthy that were instituted under the Bush Administration.