Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Health and Human Services Sec.

[SophiaZoe]

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will nominate Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to head the Department of Health and Human Services, a U.S. official said on Saturday.
Sebelius has accepted Obama's offer and the president will formally announce the nomination on Monday afternoon at the White House, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.


http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE51R1VB20090228?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

 

[SophiaZoe]

Re: Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Health and Human Services Sec.

[SIZE=+2]Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Accepts Nomination to HHS Secretary[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]By Michael A. Fletcher and Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, February 28, 2009; 7:18 PM[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]
[/SIZE]
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius this afternoon accepted President Obama's request to become his Health and Human Services secretary, stepping into a central role in the new administration's ambitious effort to overhaul the nation's health care system.


Sebelius's nomination comes just days before the White House is scheduled to convene a summit on health reform, an early step in the president's ambitious plan to vastly expand the reach of the nation's health care system. A formal announcement of her nomination will come on Monday.


The summit, which is expected to be the first in a series of open meetings around the country, is intended to spotlight the challenges spawned by the nation's balkanized health care system -- including soaring costs and gaping holes in coverage. It is also aimed at rallying public support for an overhaul certain to draw ideological and industry opposition. Similar to last week's "fiscal responsibility" summit, the health session will open with remarks by Obama and then divide into working groups run by administration officials.


In his budget proposal unveiled last week, Obama set aside $634 billion for a new health reform reserve fund that over the next decade would serve as a substantial downpayment on the cost of moving the country closer to universal health coverage. Currently, about 46 million Americans lack health care coverage, a number likely to grow as the economic downturn throws more people out of work.


If confirmed by the Senate, Sebelius would fill a vital Cabinet position originally slated to go to former Sen. Thomas A. Daschle, who withdrew from consideration last month over his failure to pay $146,000 in back taxes and interest until he had already been nominated for the post. The controversy prompted Obama to acknowledge that he had "screwed up."


Steering the costly changes through Congress promises to be a complicated and politically-charged task that will be a big part of Sebelius's portfolio. The withdrawal of Daschle, a former Senate majority leader steeped both in the byzantine ways of Congress and the intricacies of the nation's $2.3 trillion health care system, delivered a significant blow to the administration as it prepared to launch its ambitious health reform agenda.


Sebelius would inherit a sprawling department of 65,000 employees responsible for public health, food safety, scientific research and the administration of the Medicare and Medicaid, which serve 90 million Americans. The solvency of those programs is yet another worry confronting the administration, which has vowed to take on entitlement reform. The department's budget, consumed largely by those two programs, exceeds $700 billion.


The Kansas governor's health care experience stems primarily from her eight years as state insurance commissioner and her work as governor overseeing the Medicaid health program for the poor. She tried unsuccessfully to expand health coverage in the state through higher cigarette taxes. Still, under her watch, Kansas has added tens of thousands of low-income children to state health programs.


As insurance commissioner, she rejected the sale of Blue Cross Blue Shield to an Indiana company, citing the prospect as higher premiums as the reason. The job, however, had less to do with the delivery of health care and achieving the sort of quality improvements and efficiencies that Obama and policy experts speak of when they describe a high-performing health system of the future.


More than a month into the administration, few Obama appointees have been placed in the health agency and the president has yet to name a chief for the major health agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration or the National Institutes of Health.


"This evening, the President asked Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to serve as his Secretary of Health and Human Services, and she accepted," an administration official said this afternoon.


Continues:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/28/AR2009022801717.html?hpid=topnews

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Health and Human Services Sec.

from a Kansas paper -

Kathleen Sebelius a good pick for Obama


<!-- END tabs --> By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

About a year ago, Kathleen Sebelius started talking about "universal health care" in speeches and appearances.


The Kansas governor wasn't necessarily recommending a government-controlled, single-payer system. But she does believe that when health care in inaccessible to people, the government should step in and help.


Other principles Sebelius is likely to adhere to as President Barack Obama's secretary of Health and Human Services: She favors hiking cigarette taxes to pay for access to health care; she likes smoking bans in public places; she's a big proponent of early screenings for diseases and health problems; she'll look for efficiencies like computerized medical records.

Sebelius is a shrewd administrator who has no patience for bloated bureaucracies.

People around Kansas have said for a long time that a cabinet post would be a good niche for her. She doesn't have Washington experience, but it would be a mistake to underestimate her political skills. A Democrat doesn't win the governorship of overwhelmingly Republican Kansas without some moxie.


http://voices.kansascity.com/node/3883

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Health and Human Services Sec.

Summit Addresses Pandemic Flu Preparations for Kansas

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, joined by
U.S. Health and Human Services
Deputy Secretary Alex Azar and State
Senators Pat Roberts and Sam
Brownback, addressed pandemic flu
preparedness at the Kansas
Pandemic Readiness and Emergency
Planning Conference today at the
Capitol Plaza Hotel in Topeka.

Gov. Sebelius and Deputy Sec. Azar
signed a planning resolution
committing the state and federal
governments to specific planning
efforts. The agreement outlines the
federal government’s role in coordinating national preparedness in response to a
pandemic. It also details how the federal government will continue to provide planning
assistance and funding for pandemic preparedness to states.
“Kansas has significantly increased its preparedness level for pandemic influenza in
recent years and will continue to work with federal, state and local partners to ensure
we are doing everything possible to be ready for what world health officials believe to be
an inevitable event,” Gov. Sebelius said. “Kansas has worked diligently to develop a
strong system for responding to emergencies of all kinds. Today’s summit shows the
collaboration we have been building and will continue to build among local, state and
federal partners.”

“Pandemics are global in nature but their effects are always local, so I am pleased that
Governor Sebelius is taking a leadership role to prepare Kansas for this threat,” Deputy
Secretary Alex Azar said. “Pandemic planning needs to address how schools,
businesses, public agencies, faith-based organizations and others participate in
pandemic preparedness. With this meeting, local officials can identify needs specific to
Kansas communities and begin crucial coordination to assure readiness if a pandemic
outbreak strikes.”

HHS has provided Kansas $1.1 million over the next year for developing pandemic
response plans.
“Kansas was one of the first states in the nation to announce and release its Pandemic
Flu Preparedness and Response Plan last fall. This was followed by more than a dozen
public meetings around the state to increase public awareness of pandemic influenza,”
said Roderick L. Bremby, Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and
Environment.

“Additional federal resources and updated
guidelines in recent months have further
enhanced our planning efforts,” Bremby
added. “KDHE and the Kansas Adjutant
General’s Department are currently in the
process of hosting a series of pandemic
influenza symposiums to address
pandemic flu preparedness among specific
groups including education, business, faith
and community-based organizations,
agriculture, healthcare, and government.”
“It’s important that every Kansan begin to
prepare for a pandemic by putting together
a home preparedness kit that includes enough bottled water, food, and medications for
each family member,” Bremby said. “Disruption of normal services in society is
expected and this simple action can make a big difference.”
Other preparedness efforts will also increase the state’s ability to respond to a
pandemic. The Web-based Health Alert Network has been established for sharing
public health emergency information with health and emergency management officials
statewide; state and local disease investigation specialists have enhanced their
surveillance for detecting cases of any unusual illness; and new partnerships for
responding to emergencies have been formed among public and private organizations
across Kansas.
Information on preparing for pandemic influenza is available on KDHE Web site at

www.kdheks.gov, the HHS Web site at www.pandemicflu.gov

http://www.kdheks.gov/kdhe_news/2006/june/download/Summit_Addresses_Pandemic_Flu_Preparations_for_Kansas.pdf

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Health and Human Services Sec.

"...Kansas has significantly increased its preparedness level for pandemic influenza in recent years and will continue to work with federal, state and local partners to ensure we are doing everything possible to be ready for what world health officials believe to be an inevitable event,? Gov. Sebelius said. ?Kansas has worked diligently to develop a strong system for responding to emergencies of all kinds. Today?s summit shows the collaboration we have been building and will continue to build among local, state and federal partners.?

?Pandemics are global in nature but their effects are always local, so I am pleased that Governor Sebelius is taking a leadership role to prepare Kansas for this threat,? Deputy Secretary Alex Azar said...."


:applause: