Obama taps Gov. Sebelius for Health post
— -- President Obama, acknowledging that no one "has a silver bullet" to fix the nation's broken health care system, on Monday nominated Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to take on the daunting task.
Sebelius, 60, a Democrat, is Obama's second choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services.
She will tackle what Obama calls one of the defining problems of the times: skyrocketing health care costs and inefficiencies that are driving families and businesses into bankruptcy and contributing to the nation's economic crisis.
"It's a crisis that's punishing families, battering businesses and squeezing states," Obama said. And solving the long-intractable problem is "no longer just a moral imperative but a fiscal imperative."
Obama chose Sebelius after his first choice, former senator Tom Daschle, withdrew his name amid revelations about unpaid taxes for consulting work and a car and driver he used after he lost re-election to the Senate in 2004.
Sebelius, who must be confirmed by the Senate, called the job "a responsibility I could not refuse."
Flanked at the White House's East Room podium by Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts and former Senate majority leader Bob Dole of Kansas, both Republicans, Sebelius said heath care reform is not "a partisan challenge, it's an American challenge."
Nancy-Ann DeParle, a health policy figure during the administration of Bill Clinton, was introduced as Obama's choice to head the White House Office for Health Reform.
Obama brought Sebelius and DeParle to the executive mansion just days before he holds a White House summit on health care, set to begin Thursday. Lawmakers from both parties and representatives of major interest groups, from insurers to drug companies to consumers, will attend.
The president also said he would release $155 million in the $787 billion economic stimulus measure to support 126 new health centers to give people more access to primary and preventive health care services. He said he was mindful of the difficulty ahead as he seeks to expand health care coverage, expecting tough choices and likely trade-offs.
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