Sebelius to fill HHS

President Barack Obama asked Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Saturday to serve as his secretary of Health and Human Services and she accepted, a senior administration official said.
But just as important in the emerging debate over health care reform is the title she didn’t get: health care czar.
It signals that Sebelius will be one of many voices in the administration on health care – rather than the chief figure as Tom Daschle would have been – and the effort will be run out of the White House.
There will likely be a separate official overseeing health care in the White House, the administration said Saturday. The scope and powers of that position remain under discussion, according to people familiar with the process.
Obama will introduce Sebelius Monday afternoon at the White House, the official said. He begins his push for a health-care overhaul in earnest Thursday with a forum that brings together members of Congress, health care interest groups and everyday Americans.
The selection of Sebelius fills a critical vacancy in Obama's Cabinet, at the end of a week when Obama committed substantial funds and political capital to getting an ambitious health care overhaul passed this year. The nomination means other critical openings at the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services can be filled.
The health secretary job has been in limbo since Feb. 3 when Daschle, a former Senate Majority Leader, withdrew his nomination because of tax problems. Daschle also was to lead a new White House Office of Health Reform, which could be eliminated under the new arrangement.
Because Obama had long planned for Daschle to serve as a Cabinet secretary and health czar, Daschle’s decision to step aside caught the White House flat-footed. Aides spent the weeks since his withdrawal trying to figure out how to proceed. There was no clear replacement for Daschle under the structure he set up.
It’s unclear when Obama will decide on a health care point person in the White House. Nancy-Ann DeParle, a health care administrator in the Clinton administration who has worked on the issue for 20 years, has been mentioned as a possible choice.
Sebelius, a two-term Democratic governor, has worked on health care in Kansas and tussled with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas when she was state insurance commissioner. But she lacks the kind of Washington experience that made Daschle such an obvious choice to shepherd health care reform through Congress. Health care insiders suspect this is the reason why she will take the Cabinet post, but not the lead position on health care.
At the same time, Sebelius can use her credibility among governors to sell them on why they should back Obama’s health plan and how it would help their budgets.
The White House began notifying senators of the nomination Friday, raising expectations in Washington about an imminent announcement.
Sebelius, 60, was a high-profile Obama supporter during his campaign and a key surrogate with women's groups as he fought back a strong challenge from Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Her political temperament and policy positions match up well with the Obama administration.
She carries the reputation as a practitioner of bipartisanship -- a necessity for a Democratic governor in a Republican state. And she has called for universal health care, declaring in her 2007 State of the State address that "we must commit ourselves to universal coverage, improved quality of care, and increased affordability." Her challenge to the state legislature, however, was stifled by competing interests and a lack of consensus.
As a governor, Sebelius has the executive experience to oversee a large bureaucracy. Under Daschle, the day-to-day management of the Health and Human Services department was expected to fall to William Corr, his pick for deputy secretary. Under Sebelius, the agency will likely get the full attention of a politician steeped in health care issues on the state level, namely the rising costs of Medicare and Medicaid.
But if Obama gains a health secretary, he loses a potent contender in his hopes of gaining a filibuster-proof 60 seats in the Senate. Sebelius' decision to go into the Cabinet squashes Democratic hopes of capturing a Kansas Senate seat.
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, who was also on the short list for the Cabinet post, praised Sebelius in a statement Saturday as a “first-rate choice”
“She has an excellent mind, she makes decisions carefully and well, and her obvious empathy for the plight in which so many Americans find themselves will serve them and our country well,” Bredesen said. “She has been a great governor, is well respected by her colleagues, and for my part, I stand ready to help her in any way."
Im glad Obama finally found a person to fill this spot so he can finally start helping all the people in this country that need health care.