Daschle still key player on health care
WASHINGTON -- Nearly four months after tax troubles forced him to forgo his plan to lead the nation's health department, former senator Tom Daschle has re-emerged as a key player on health care, lawmakers and policy experts say.
Though he withdrew his nomination to serve as Health and Human Services secretary in February, Daschle is again poised to play a critical role as Congress debates how to provide medical care to 46 million people who are uninsured in the United States.
Daschle, a Democrat who represented South Dakota in Congress for 26 years before his defeat in 2004, is calling for action in a campaignlike circuit of speeches. He penned a piece in Newsweek last week supporting a public health plan to compete with private insurers. When General Electric announced it would spend $6 billion to lower medical costs, it named Daschle to the board of the new initiative.
Most important, the former Senate majority leader continues to meet privately with members of Congress, pressing them on the importance of health care overhaul, Daschle and others at the meetings said.
"I'm really enjoying this. I may be having more fun in this role than I would have in the other," Daschle, 61, said in an interview. "I knew that just because one opportunity to be involved may have not been possible there are a lot of other options for me to be involved."
Daschle works for Alston & Bird, a law firm that lobbies on behalf of more than a dozen health companies, including CVS Caremark, according to Senate lobbying disclosure statements.
Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the arrangement raises questions about what Daschle is advocating and who he represents in the closed-door meetings with members of Congress. "It's like being a senator or being in the administration without having any of the restrictions," she said.
Daschle, who is not a lobbyist, said he does not lobby but rather offers his thoughts to anyone who finds them helpful, be it the law firm or lawmakers. "I don't change my analysis or my message based on the audience," he said. "That's my strength, that I can share this analysis … with whomever is interested."
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