Thursday, February 05, 2009
Administration News
Observers Speculate on Whom Obama Might Nominate as
HHS Secretary, Director of White House Office of Health
Reform
According to observers, possible
replacements for Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) -- who withdrew his nomination as HHS secretary and resigned as director of the White House
Office of Health Reform on Monday -- could include Kansas Gov. Kathleen
Sebelius (D), Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), Michigan Gov. Jennifer
Granholm (D), former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D), or former Democratic National
Committee Chair and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D), the
Wall Street Journal's "Health Blog" reports (Rubenstein, "Health Blog,"
Wall Street Journal, 2/4).
CIA Director Leon Panetta,
who served as director of the White House Office of Management and
Budget under former President Bill Clinton, also is a possible
replacement (Stein, "SpyTalk," CQ Politics, 2/4). In addition,
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D), who implemented the state's health
insurance law and has addressed unexpected problems with the law, is a
possible replacement (Rhee, "Political Intelligence," Boston Globe, 2/4).
Observers also have mentioned former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R),
who drafted the Massachusetts health insurance law, as a possible
replacement (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report,
2/4).
None of the potential nominees have the "political influence
and health care expertise" of Daschle, Bloomberg/Long Island Newsday reports. In
addition, "Daschle's decision may force" President Obama to "split the
jobs" of HHS secretary and director of the White House Office of Health
Reform and "sets back plans to find a new chief" at FDA, as "criticism mounts about
its ability to police drugmakers, food processors and importers,"
according to Bloomberg/Newsday (Bloomberg/Long Island
Newsday, 2/5).
As the next nominee for HHS secretary
likely "won't lead the new health reform office that Daschle was also
slated to oversee," Jeanne Lambrew, who co-authored a book on health care
reform with Daschle and currently serves as deputy director of the office,
"might get the nod for the job," according to the Journal's
"Health Blog" ("Health Blog," Wall Street Journal, 2/4).
Future of Health Care Reform Efforts
Daschle stepping down
"is likely to delay for months the momentum for an overhaul of the U.S.
health care system," Bloomberg/Newsday reports
(Bloomberg/Long Island Newsday, 2/5). According to the Christian Science Monitor, the "loss of
Daschle's expertise on the health care system and his knowledge of Capitol
Hill was seen as a blow to the administration as it embarks on health care
reform" (Feldmann et al., Christian Science Monitor, 2/5).
Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, said, "This takes the
Obama administration off their game because health reform is all built
around Daschle," adding, "It creates some real problems, and they're going
to have to regroup on this."
Robert Laszewski, a policy analyst and
former health insurance executive, said, "It's going to take a couple of
months to straighten this out," adding, "Then you've lost the momentum
going into the summer" (Bloomberg/Long Island Newsday,
2/5).
According to Robert Blendon, a health care policy expert at
Harvard University, the
decision by Daschle to withdraw his nomination as HHS secretary will cause
a "bump in the road" for health care reform (Christian Science
Monitor, 2/5).
However, Stephen Ubl, president and CEO of
the Advanced
Medical Technology Association, said, "I wouldn't expect it to
significantly affect the prospects for health care reform," adding, "The
president has articulated his vision and made some key appointments aside
from the Daschle nomination" (Bloomberg/Long Island Newsday,
2/5).
Opinion Pieces
- David Broder, Washington Post: The "Daschle fiasco is the
worst embarrassment Obama has suffered since winning the election," as
"Daschle was no ordinary appointee and HHS is no ordinary job,"
Post columnist Broder writes. According to Broder,
"Daschle's withdrawal not only costs the administration and the country
his skilled services, it leaves Obama and the administration with egg on
their faces" (Broder, Washington Post, 2/5).
- Froma Harrop, Providence Journal: The decision by Daschle
to withdraw his nomination as HHS secretary "had to happen" -- despite
his "smarts on reforming health care" -- because of his tax issues,
"infuriating sense of entitlement" and "eagerness to make big money off
the people he would regulate," syndicated columnist Harrop writes.
According to Harrop, in the event that Daschle had drafted health care
reform legislation, those issues would have raised questions about
whether "we trust an author so keen to make money from corporate
interests." She writes, "No one expects the Obama administration to be
as clean as the candidate vowed," but "if Daschle sailed through, then
the political capital that promise held would have vanished," adding,
"Meanwhile, others can do the job" (Harrop, Providence
Journal, 2/5).
- Joe Klein, Time Magazine: In the event that Daschle
did not withdraw his nomination as HHS secretary, "Obama would have had
to push" him to leave because of a number of issues, Time
columnist Klein writes. In addition to his tax issues, Daschle "had
given speeches worth $200,000 to health care industry groups that he
would have had to regulate" as HHS secretary and "made $5 million in two
years, 'advising' various businesses and organizations rather than
formally 'lobbying' for them, a cheesy distinction that almost made it
worse," Klein writes. He adds, "A guy like Daschle, who knows the system
cold, who could talk to both the insurance companies and the liberal
advocates, would have been invaluable to Obama in bringing health
insurance to everyone who needs it," but "as the man said, we're all
going to have to sacrifice, and it now seems clear that Obama's
sacrifice, if he wants to reattach Washington to a nation sick with
cynicism about its government, will be to detach himself from the
lobbyist elites who might have helped grease the skids for his policy
goals" (Klein, Time Magazine, 2/4).
- Karen Tumulty, Time Magazine: Obama, as he seeks to find a
replacement for Daschle, will have to ask "whether anyone can replace
Daschle when it comes to the harder task of keeping on track President
Obama's drive this year to overhaul the health care system and expand
coverage to the 47 million Americans who now lack it," Time
columnist Tumulty writes. According to Tumulty, "probably more
important" than who Obama names as the next nominee for HHS secretary is
who he names as director of the White House Office of Health Reform. The
office "was where Daschle's expertise and clout would have mattered the
most," and although "his former deputy Jeanne Lambrew is widely
respected for her policy knowledge, no one still there has Daschle's
savvy and connections for shepherding legislation through the Senate,"
Tumulty writes (Tumulty, Time Magazine, 2/4).
Broadcast Coverage
NPR's "All Things Considered" on Wednesday included comments from
Senate Finance
Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) about the effect that the
decision by Daschle to withdraw his nomination as HHS secretary will have
on health care reform efforts ("All Things Considered," NPR, 2/4). In
addition, NPR's "All Things Considered" on Wednesday included a commentary
by Daniel Schorr of NPR about how the Daschle case highlights ties between
government and lobbyists (Schorr, "All Things Considered," NPR,
2/4).
NPR's "Day to Day" on Wednesday examined whether the decision by
Daschle to withdraw his nomination as HHS secretary will affect health
care reform efforts ("Day to Day," NPR, 2/4).