Obama taps Sebelius for health secretary

WASHINGTON - Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is President Barack Obama's choice for secretary of health and human services, a White House source said Saturday.

The source, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said Obama will formally announce the nomination on Monday.

The Sebelius pick caps a week in which Obama underscored his resolve to pass a major health care overhaul this year. He issued a challenge to Congress in his speech Tuesday, and followed up Thursday with a budget that requested an eye-popping $634 billion over 10 years, which the administration called a "down payment" on coverage for all. This week, Obama will host lawmakers of both parties and representatives of major interest groups, from insurers to drug companies to consumers, at a White House summit on health care reform.

Sebelius, 60, is seen as a solid choice to head HHS because as a governor responsible for the Medicaid program in Kansas, she faced the pressure of rising health care costs directly, and saw how hard it is to expand coverage, particularly in bad economic times. She is also familiar with the insurance industry, a key interest group in the health care debate. Before becoming governor, she served as insurance commissioner, and her fellow state commissioners selected her to be national president of their association.

Fewer D.C. connections
However, Sebelius lacks the deep Washington connections of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, Obama's first pick for the job. Daschle, who withdrew after disclosing he had failed to pay $140,000 in taxes and interest, was on a first name basis with most of the members of the Senate. And it's in the Senate where many expect Obama's health care effort to succeed or fail.

Originally, Daschle was to hold both the position of HHS secretary and a top White House post directing the health reform effort. An administration official said Saturday the White House position will not go to Sebelius, but will be filled by another person.

Sebelius had been seen the leading candidate for HHS for several weeks and word of her appointment was greeted favorably by both those who favor the expansion of health care coverage and health insurers.

"Together with the president's speech to Congress, and his big health care investment in the budget, the president's appointment of Gov. Sebelius once again makes clear his intention of achieving meaningful health care reform this year," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a liberal advocacy group that has worked for years to expand health care coverage.

"Gov. Sebelius is the right person to move the president's health care agenda forward," said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plan, the major trade group representing insurers. "She has a wealth of experience of health care issues and has a legislative history of working with both sides of the aisle."

Opposed by abortion foes
Abortion foes strongly oppose Sebelius because she once had a reception attended by a late-term abortion provider who now faces criminal charges. The anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, headquartered in Wichita, called Sebelius "unfit to serve."

Democrats say there was never any doubt that Obama would appoint an HHS secretary who supports abortion rights.

Sebelius will be subject to confirmation by the Democratic-controlled Senate.

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