President Barack Obama announced Monday he has tapped Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius for Department of Health and Human Services secretary and Nancy Ann DeParle as Director of the White House Office for Health Reform.
In order to be appointed as HHS chief, Sebelius will first have to face approval by the Senate.
With the loss of Obama's first pick, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), due to tax indiscretions, some say Sebelius would have big shoes to fill. Daschle enjoyed widespread bipartisan support for the job, with an extended history of working on healthcare reform issues and a reputation for working well across party lines.
The Obama administration has been under fire since the Daschle loss Feb. 3 over tax violations. Sebelius has no doubt been through a tougher vetting process than Daschle. The delay has been a disappointment to key congressional healthcare proponents and the White House, all ready to move forward with a bipartisan overhaul of American healthcare. Many saw the loss of Daschle as a missed opportunity for the HHS secretary to be part of the healthcare reform infrastructure laid out in the stimulus plan.
Sebelius has potential as a bipartisan mediator. A Democrat governor in a red state, she has proven she can work with Republicans. She is now in her second term as Kansas Governor, and was first elected in 2003. An early supporter of Obama, she served as the Kansas state insurance commissioner for eight years before she became governor. While working as insurance commissioner, she gained a reputation as being a patient advocate. In 2005, Time magazine named her one of the nation's top five governors.
Obama's healthcare plan would build on existing employer-based healthcare to create universal coverage. The plan would only mandate coverage when it comes to children. His healthcare reform plan calls for a new national health plan for all Americans, including the self-employed and small businesses, to buy affordable health coverage that is similar to the plan available to members of Congress.
Some lawmakers feel Obama has a chance to achieve healthcare reform and universal coverage, particularly if he acts within the first six months of his administration.
More than $100 billion has already been allotted to healthcare in the stimulus package, signed into law Feb. 17. The package includes $87 billion for Medicaid, $39 billion for COBRA, and $1.1 billion for federal research on comparative healthcare effectiveness. If Sebelius is confirmed, she will be pivotal in implementing healthcare initiatives set forth in the new law.
Some Kansas Republicans do not endorse Sebelius. "The governor has failed to provide any meaningful healthcare reform in Kansas, and instead increased the role of government in providing health insurance. It's not reform, and is a frightening indication of what is to come," said Executive Director Christian Morgan in the Kansas Trunkline, the official blog of the Kansas Republican party.
The Associated Press reported Sunday that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) favors Sebelius as a "strong partner" in revamping the healthcare system and that she "really gets what needs to be done." Republican Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Sonny Perdue of Georgia and Jon Huntsman of Utah also applauded her nomination, AP reported.
Photo by The Center for American Progress Action Fund and obtained under Creative Commons license.