But the real question here is whether or not she is qualified to take charge on the proposed Obama health care reforms. A former state insurance commissioner, Sibelius has been well received by the insurance industry, making me wonder whether her 'insider' status will be a benefit or hindrance to the reform process. Also, her track record of moving forward health care reform legislation in Kansas is not extensive. There has been some movement in the past few years to expand coverage for children and the underinsured, but nothing revolutionary to recommend her for this position.
Tom Daschle had written a book about health care reform, served as a U.S. Senator for 18 years, and had an extensive rolodex. Basically, he was a political operative with the knowledge, skills, and contacts to jettison health care reform into the mainstream consciousness. Unfortunately, he hadn't paid his taxes.
It's still unclear what exactly Sibelius will bring to this position. If her nomination is passed, she'll have a long, hard road ahead of her. Obama will most likely appoint someone different to head health care reform in the White House (he had originally planned to have Daschle serve in this role), making it unclear as to what role Sibelius will be playing in the reforms.
While I have some doubts, for now I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully, she has studied the health care reform efforts of the Clinton era and learned from their mistakes. And even more importantly, I hope she's paid all of her taxes.
Sibelius seems to be more of an administrative position, with appeal to the moderate republicans. The question to ask before assuming that Obama's reforms are in place is, will BHO even be able to enact these reforms?
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the deteriorating state of Medicare will force some type of health care reform. Yes, the economy will be an impediment, but history has shown that major health care reforms have occurred mostly in times of economic disparity. I don't think Obama can afford to not address health care reform. He most likely won't be able to implement his full reforms (since policy is politics) but something must be done to help those losing jobs from losing health insurance and to prevent the collapse of Medicare in the next 10 years.
ReplyDeleteIf Sibelius is an administrative post appealing to moderate republicans, do you think she'll be charged with the 'health care czar' position that Obama has discussed?
For some more analysis on the current political climate for health care reforms, check out this nytimes article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/us/politics/02health.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&ref=health