WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has tapped Democratic Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for Department of Health and Human Services secretary and Nancy-Ann DeParle to head the White House Office for Health Reform. Both women have extensive experience in healthcare and the overall praise of stakeholders. 

“Kathleen Sebelius has a remarkable intellect, unquestioned integrity and the kind of pragmatic wisdom you’ll tend to find in a Kansan,” Obama said. “I know she will bring some much-needed grace and good humor to Washington, and she will be a tremendous asset to my cabinet.”

The announcement came early last month as the president prepared to hold a bipartisan healthcare reform summit to push action on Capitol Hill. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who will hold a pivotal roll in moving healthcare reform legislation, called the president’s pick “good news.”

“Governor Sebelius is a strong choice for Health and Human Services secretary. I’m particularly pleased to hear of her selection because she brings such solid experience to the position,” he said.

If the Senate confirms Sebelius, she would help interpret and implement healthcare IT provisions in the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. She would also manage a huge influx of healthcare IT funding provided in the law, along with pressing healthcare reform plans under way by the White House and on Capitol Hill.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act also includes $2 billion in discretionary funding for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and $17.2 billion in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement incentives to help providers adopt electronic health records, all to fall under her jurisdiction. Sebelius would also oversee another $10 billion in funding related to healthcare IT.

Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, said Sebelius is “a proven leader with extensive knowledge of healthcare issues and a long history of working effectively across the political aisle.”

An early supporter of Obama, Sebelius is in her second term as governor and served eight years as Kansas state insurance commissioner, where she gained a reputation as being a patient advocate. In 2005, Time magazine named her one of the nation’s top five governors.

DeParle, who headed up the Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) from 1997 to 2000, serves  on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the advisory panel to Congress on Medicare payment issues. During the Clinton Administration, she was associate director for health and personnel at the White House Office of Management and Budget. DeParle will be leaving a managing director position at CCMO Capital.

Nancy Nielsen, MD, president of the American Medical Association said DeParle is “an excellent choice.”

Richard Umbdenstock, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, said Sebelius would bring “a proven record of bipartisanship” to the role of HHS secretary, and her understanding of the complexities of the insurance system would serve the nation well.  “Governor Sebelius has the right mix of experience and leadership to help build a consensus for change,” Umbdenstock said.

Of DeParle, he said her “deep understanding of both policy and politics will help drive needed reform in healthcare.”