Tuesday, Senator Tom Daschle withdrew himself as President Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee, saying, “I can’t pass healthcare if I am too much of a distraction.”

Jacob Goldstein offered analysis of this news on the Wall Street Journal Health Blog:

The president had said he planned to move quickly on health reform, in spite of the financial crisis. Tom Daschle’s departure will likely make that pledge more difficult to keep. Daschle was more than just the nominee to run Health and Human Services; he also had a desk in the White House, where he was to run the Office of Health Reform. Now he says he’s withdrawing from both jobs.

It’s unclear whether Daschle’s replacement will also hold both jobs. That kind of dual role is pretty rare, and Daschle brought a hard-to-find combination of qualifications…

On The Treatment blog (TNR), Jonathan Cohn underscored this point:

Daschle had a combination of talents not easy to find in one person—poiltical savvy, connections in Washington, and a thorough knowledge of health care policy. But that doesn’t mean you can’t replace those skills, particularly if you’re willing to find several people instead of one. Remember that Daschle was actually up for two posts.
…
Plenty of prominent Democrats would have the requisite experience to handle HHS… Filling the job of health reform czar is a bit more difficult. You need somebody with a command of health policy that runs both broad and deep… Then again, maybe that position doens’t need filling. The rest of the administration certainly has political talent to spare. Rahm Emanuel is in the room, as is Phil Schiliro, the legislative liason Obama inherited from Henry Waxman’s staff and about whom I’ve heard nothing but raves. I assume Neera Tanden, the longtime Clinton aide who’d signed on to be a Daschle deputy at HHS, isn’t going anywhere. And [Jeanne] Lambrew, for what it’s worth, has a political sense of her own.
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It’d be foolish to think this development doesn’t set things back. But, as one senior administration official just told me, “the most passionate advocate for health reform in the administration is staying put—right in the Oval Office.”

Similarly, Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack acknowledged the impact of Senator Daschle’s withdrawal on the health care reform movement, but he also pointed out that “the ultimate success of health care reform rests on the shoulders of President Barack Obama,” and also with “the five committee chairmen who have jurisdiction over health care — Senators Baucus and Kennedy, as well as Representatives Waxman, Rangel, and Mille — all of whom are similarly committed to meaningful reform.” Then Pollack offered some advice about moving forward:

The President should now promptly appoint an HHS Secretary who shares his conviction that health care reform is essential for our nation. Thankfully, there are several possible candidates who fit that bill, such as Governors Kathleen Sebelius (Kansas), Ted Strickland (Ohio), and Ed Rendell (Pennsylvania), and former Governor Howard Dean (Vermont).

Since the White House and Congress are now fully focused on the enactment of an economic recovery package, Senator Daschle’s withdrawal is not as troublesome as it would have been one or two months from now.
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There is every reason to remain optimistic. Now is the time to get health care reform done, and we intend to help achieve it.

Ezra Klein offered suggestions for replacing Daschle, but before “naming names,” he noted:

Every advocacy group and think tank and political operative I’ve called has said the same thing. “Well, who have you heard?” There’s no “B” team. In part, that’s because Daschle was of unique stature for a presidential health policy appointment. There just aren’t a lot of recent Senate majority leaders with an interest in insurance regulation and a willingness to move into a small White House office to work grueling hours at a task that will probably fail. People are trying to think of replacements, but few candidates have the constellation of skills that Daschle did.

The most common HHS Secretary suggestions floating around the blogosphere include Howard Dean, Ed Rendell, other current and former governors like John Kitzhaber, Kathleen Sebelius, or Jennifer Granholm, or, as Ezra Klein and Maggie Mahar advocated, Center for American Progress President (and Obama Transition team head) John Podesta. Regarding Dean, Maggie Mahar noted:

The fact that Dean is an M.D. makes him an attractive candidate. We need a healthcare reform leader who understands that medicine is not a business, but a profession—which means that it must put patients first. Dean might be able to rally doctors; their support is, I believe, crucial because patients will listen to their doctors. As Governor of Vermont, Dean expanded health insurance to children, and faced the challenges of health care reform.

Also advocating Dean for HHS Secretary or “Health Czar” (OHR Director), Young Turks host Cenk Uygur remarked:

At this point, if Howard Dean is not selected for at least one of these positions, it is a clear snub. But not just to Dean, but to all like-minded progressives.
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We still want to get things done, right? We don’t just want to bargain with the Republicans all day long and walk away without real change, do we? Are we playing a political game of who can appear to be more bi-partisan or are we really going to bring the change that was promised?

You know who promised change and then really delivered? Howard Dean. No one believed that he could change the mindset at the DNC and have the kind of success he did with the 50 state strategy. But he got it done. It would be unconscionable to ignore that. If they don’t tap Dean for at least one of these positions, there is something seriously wrong with the way this administration is going about its business.

On his Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review blog, Bob Laszewski said Senator Ron wyden (D-OR) “fits the bill” for HHS Secretary:

He is:

• Respected: Senator Wyden is highly respected and well liked by his colleagues—and everyone else in the business of health care policy. [...]
• Understands Health Care: His Wyden-Bennett efforts resulted in a bill the CBO has scored as revenue neutral in its first few years of implementation—a notable achievement demonstrating Senator Wyden’s understanding of the moving parts in health care. [...]
• The Ability to Talk to the American People About Health Care: He has made Wyden-Bennett an important part of the health care discussion. [...]

I also have no doubt that Senator Wyden would make cost containment and long-term affordability, something the President has also been talking about lately, the issue it deserves to be.

At Managed Care Matters, Joseph Paduda agreed:

I met with the Senator in his offices early last year, and came away quite impressed with his deep understanding of the payer community, their motivations and limitations. Sen Wyden has taught gerontology and has been a nursing home regulator. He understands the new media (Wyden introduced his Healthy Americans Act to health care bloggers very early in the process) and communicates quite well.

Finally for this week, February is American Heart Month. The American Hearth Association and its volunteers are working all month to “raise funds for research and education and pass along information about heart disease and stroke.” Furthermore, as Mrs. Organized reminded on the Organize Blog: (emphasis added)

On Friday, February 6th, it’s National Wear Red Day, reminding women that 1 in 4 women die of heart disease. Talk red by picking up your cell phones, email, text or whatever you do best and tell your best chicas to ask their doctors about blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol.

Check out Go Red for Women website, which works to raise awareness and educate about heart disease — the number one cause of death for women in America —, view stories from women around the country, and share your own story at Go Red TV. And don’t forget to participate in and support National Wear Red Day this Friday, February 6!

Below — from the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Flickr pool

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 5th, 2009 at 7:00 pm and is filed under Policy, Politics, Roundup, Women's Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.