Obama taps Sebelius, DeParle to oversee health reform
Obama had previously tapped Tom Daschle to both offices as a healthcare czar.
Girding for a titanic struggle to overhaul the nation's healthcare system, President Obama Monday morning officially named the two women he expects to lead the effort he has called critical to reducing the deficit and righting the economy.
As expected, he asked Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be secretary of HHS. He also named Nancy-Ann DeParle, a former director of the Health Care Financing Administration, to head the new White House Office for Health Reform.
Putting different people in these two slots is a change in direction for Obama, who originally wanted former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., to head both as a healthcare czar. Daschle's failure to fully pay his taxes torpedoed his nomination and he was forced to withdraw.
Sebelius, a popular two-term Democratic governor in an overwhelmingly Republican state, was on the short list for vice president and as Commerce secretary but declined to be considered. With the president in a bind in the wake of Daschle's implosion, Sebelius relented.
The White House wanted to get these two nominations announced before the president hosts a healthcare summit Thursday. More than 120 members of Congress, lobbyists and academics have been invited to the summit with a goal of passing healthcare reform this year. Politically, the nomination of Sebelius is a blow to the Kansas Democratic Party, which had seen her as a potential candidate for the seat being vacated by GOP Sen. Sam Brownback, who is running for governor. But the appointment gives Obama a savvy politician at HHS, one with long experience working with Republicans.
Obama hopes that skill can help him avoid some of the problems President Bill Clinton experienced when he tried to reform health care in 1994. The White House touted DeParle as "one of the nation's leading experts on health care and regulatory issues." A White House statement said that "as commissioner of the Department of Human Services in Tennessee, she saw firsthand the health care system's impact on workers and families. In the Clinton administration, DeParle handled budget matters for federal health care programs, and took on the tremendous task of managing Medicare and Medicaid."
On hand to show support for Sebelius were former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, a longtime Republican senator from Kansas, and Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan. Obama said he hoped their presence is "a symbol" of the bipartisanship he wants to reform health care. But he made clear that he expects a tough fight. "I realize that there are those who simply don't believe Washington can bring about this change," he said. "And the odds are long. It has failed too many times. There are too many special interests and entrenched lobbyists invested in the status quo."
The president also announced the release of $155 million of economic stimulus money to support 126 new health centers. "We have acted quickly to put Recovery Act dollars to good use in communities across America," said the president. "The construction and expansion of health centers will create thousands of new jobs, help provide health care to an estimated 750,000 Americans across the country who wouldn't have access to care without these centers, and take another step toward an affordable, accessible health care system." A White House release said the new health centers will provide 5,500 jobs.