Senate HELP Committee To Hold Hearing Today On Nomination Of Daschle As New HHS Secretary

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 09 Jan 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) on Thursday is scheduled to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for a hearing to consider his nomination by President-elect Barack Obama for HHS secretary, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports. The committee, chaired by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), will not decide whether Daschle's nomination should go to the Senate for a vote. That choice is reserved for the Senate Finance Committee. Instead, members of the HELP committee -- which is expected to develop health care legislation in the coming months -- are "eager to get Daschle's perspective" on health care reform (Freking, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 1/8).

HELP Committee members are expected to question Daschle "sharply" about Obama's proposed public health insurance plan, which is "one of the most contentious aspects of ... Obama's domestic agenda," according to the New York Times. The idea of a "government-run insurance program modeled after Medicare" is "anathema to many insurers, employers and Republicans" because it would compete with private insurers. The Times reports, "No other proposal so clearly defines the political and philosophical differences between Mr. Obama and Republicans, or provokes such deep disagreements" (Pear, New York Times, 1/8).

Republicans at the hearing likely will question Daschle regarding statements made in his book "Critical," which describes his opinion on problems within the current health care system and proposes solutions, CQ HealthBeat reports (Wayne, CQ HealthBeat, 1/7). The Politico on Thursday examined Daschle's opinions fixing the health care system and prospects for achieving reform (Brown, The Politico, 1/8).

The AP/Chronicle reports that most analysts predict Daschle will face little difficulty in winning the confirmation (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 1/8).

Dual Roles
CQ HealthBeat examined how some GOP members have questioned whether Daschle, who also was selected by Obama to be the director of the new White House Office of Health Reform, could be taking on too much responsibility. "It does seem ambitious and could present logistical challenges," a Senate Republican aide said, adding, "But as an ex-leader, he's used to multi-tasking." Joseph Antos, a health policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said the dual roles were "a new experiment" that "could work well," adding that dealing with the variety of stakeholders, "would require a good bit of diplomatic skill" (CQ HealthBeat, 1/7). (CQ HealthBeat, 1/7).

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