Wednesday, February 11, 2009

People

Two Additional Candidates Emerge for HHS Secretary, White House Office of Health Reform Director

      Lloyd Dean, CEO of Catholic Healthcare West, and Jack Lew, who was recently confirmed as a deputy secretary of state, have emerged as candidates for the nominee for HHS secretary or director of the White House Office of Health Reform, according to Democratic sources in and around the White House, the Washington Post reports. Lew worked under the Clinton administration on health care reform and in the White House Office of Management and Budget, according to the Post. Last week, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) withdrew his nomination as HHS secretary and resigned as director of the office. Others who have emerged as candidates for the positions include Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) and John Podesta, chief of staff to former President Bill Clinton and chair of the Obama transition team (Kamen, Washington Post, 2/11). Ron Pollack, president of Families USA, recently told the Wall Street Journal that he spoke with Sebelius and that she told him she would accept the nomination as HHS secretary (Meckler, Wall Street Journal, 2/10).