by RJ Matson

Tuesday with the Council on Foundations, Sebelius made her first public address since she was confirmed and quickly installed as the administration’s Secretary for Health and Human services last week.  To highlight the urgency of the crisis, she states, “Approximately 30 cents of every health care dollar [is] spent on billing, overhead and administration. Spending on the uninsured and the health care bureaucracy takes up nearly one half of every health care dollar and results in a system where we all pay more and get worse results.”  The new Secretary went even further to say,  [T]he old opponents of reform have joined our effort to change the status quo. Groups and organizations that were once fierce enemies have come to the table and embraced the call for real health care reform.”

Indeed, there is great momentum (as so deftly illustrated by Matson above) for this issue right now and many conservative stakeholders are attempting to be proactive in their approach to stay ahead of that momentum.  Yet, to say old opponents have joined the effort could be an overstatement.  It leads me to say skeptically, “We shall see…”  Tell me what you think?  Will there be work and consensus building to get health reform out of committees by June?  Will the democrats simply be forced to rely on their numbers as they did in passing the Recovery Act?

Source:

Healthcare Reform Is Top US Priority – Sebelius.  Reuters Health Information via Medscape Today. Cited on May 6, 2009.  Available at http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/702385.

Health and the 44th Presidential Administration (Part III). In three nearly back-to-back announcements, President Obama is working prodigiously to fill his leadership roster for health care. Of course, the most newsworthy was his selection of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary-designate of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The White House Office of Health Reform, however will be lead by Nancy Ann DeParle who headed up the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services during the Clinton administration. The administration may deem DeParle, a Beltway-insider, as having a greater amount of political clout to handle what is sure to be high-stakes negotiation within the White House Office of Health Reform. Both women have a depth of experience in health care financing and health insurance, a stakeholder group incidentally with a powerful voice in previous rounds of the health reform debate.

The Office of National AIDS Policy is set to be led by Jeffrey S. Crowley. With a background in public health, Crowley will bring the appropriate knowledge for managing the health of populations and the dynamics of epidemics in leading the effort to set an appropriate national policy. He will also serve as a member of the Domestic Policy Council. The President stated the following:

“In [AIDS and disability policy], we continue to face serious challenges and we must take bold steps to meet them. I look forward to Jeffrey’s leadership on these critical issues.”

Mary Wakefield has been appointed Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). President Obama made the following comments regarding her appointment:

“As a nurse, a Ph.D., and a leading rural health care advocate, Mary Wakefield brings expertise that will be instrumental in expanding and improving services for those who are currently uninsured or underserved. Under her leadership we will be able to expand and improve the care provided at the Community Health Centers which serve millions of uninsured Americans and address severe provider shortages across the country.”

For even more insight into this health braintrust, check out what’s on the bookshelf (a widget to the right) featuring books and articles with references and contributions from these political appointees. Several leaders are now in place and not a moment too soon. With the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 now signed into law and the more recent unveiling of the budget proposal for 2010, there is plenty of (health care) work to be done.

Sources:

Sebelius at HHS at the White House Blog and Administrator of HRSA Announced and Obama Names Head of AIDS Policy Office and Obama Picks Kansas Governor Sebelius as Health Secretary – washingtonpost.com.

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