Health Care Debate - Key Players
According to Reuters, below is a list and description of the key players involved in the health care debate and subsequently shaping health care reform
- Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary, leads Obama’s push to enact by the end of 2009 an overhaul of the $2.5 trillion U.S. health care industry. Previously served as the Kansas health insurance commissioner for eight years.
- Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of White House Office of Health Reform, is charged with coordinating reform efforts with Congress. A former Clinton administration official, DeParle headed the Health Care Financing Administration (now Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services).
- Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff. He was chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, fourth in the hierarchy of House Democratic leaders, was formerly a senior adviser to President Clinton.
- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, and the panel’s senior Republican, Sen. Chuck Grassley have taken the lead in the debate, playing key roles in writing legislation aimed at reducing soaring costs and expanding health insurance coverage to the estimated 46 million uninsured Americans.
- Senate Health Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy, has been a leader in the Senate on health care reform, pushing for a Patient’s Bill of Rights and an expansion of Medicare, to lower prescription drugs cost.
- Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, senior Republican on the Senate Health panel, advocates for bipartisan support for health care reform.
- House Energy and Commerce committee chairman Henry Waxman, has championed reform efforts, including expand of health coverage for children, seniors, persons with disabilities, and low-income families.
- Joe Barton, the senior Republican on the House Energy panel, says ensuring that Americans are able to afford the health care they need is an important priority.
- House Ways and Means chairman Charles Rangel, supports an expansion of health care to include Americans who lack health insurance coverage. He says the United States must provide health coverage for children and working people the same kind of coverage Medicare provides for Seniors.
- Rep Dave Camp, the senior Republican on the House Ways and Means panel, says health coverage expansion can and should be done without making the government the sole health insurance provider.
More coveage of health care reform topics.
