President Obama announced Monday he has selected Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Nancy-Ann DeParle to head the White House Office of Health Reform. The announcements were characterized as a key step in the Administration's intention to pass extensive healthcare reform. All three networks ran very brief reports on the Sebelius announcement. ABC World News (3/2, story 7, 0:20, Gibson) reported the nominee said overhauling the US healthcare system "won't be easy, but, as she put it, bringing about real change rarely is." NBC Nightly News (3/2, story 5, 0:20, Williams) noted "Sebelius will be the President's point person on healthcare reform," and the CBS Evening News (3/2, story 5, 0:20, Couric) reported that Obama "is still trying to complete his cabinet."
The Washington Post (3/3, A4, Fletcher) reports, "In brief remarks, Obama reaffirmed his plans to push ahead on the initiative, despite warnings from some Republicans and others, who say that it will prove too costly and politically perilous, especially given the nation's severe fiscal problems."
USA Today (3/3, Wolf, Hall) adds that Obama "made it clear he will do things differently than the Clinton administration did in 1993-94," and "veterans of that effort...praised Obama's efforts thus far." Among the steps receiving praise are having Congress write the reform measure "with administration input, rather than the other way around," and inviting Republicans "to participate in the process." Along those lines, the Financial Times (3/3, A1, Luce) notes that Gov. Sebelius "has twice been elected Democratic governor of Kansas, in spite of the fact that the state has twice as many registered Republicans as Democrats."
The AP (3/3, Superville) reports that Sebelius "has a history of bucking the insurance industry, which faces the biggest hit under Obama's initial healthcare reform plan." She "has cultivated an image as someone who stands up to insurers" by blocking a buyout of Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Kansas and as HHS Secretary she "likely will face a similar, but bigger fight; pushing through the changes Obama outlined in the 2010 budget he released last week."
In a front-page story, The Hill (3/3, A1, Young) also notes that Obama is "determined not to repeat mistakes made in a similarly ambitious bid by the Clinton administration 16 years ago." The President "will host a slew of lawmakers, interest groups and healthcare experts for a White House summit on health reform Thursday." The Hill adds that, "with these steps, Obama wades into an issue that could define his presidency, setting forth an agenda that is wide in its scope and has been attempted by some of his predecessors in the past 60 years, sometimes to the detriment of their legacies."
Roll Call (3/3, Koffler) reports "the White House is planning an all-hands-on-deck lobbying campaign for healthcare reform, harnessing officials from the White House and across the agencies on behalf of...Obama's top initiative of the year -- and perhaps of his presidency."
The Los Angeles Times (3/3, Levey), the Sacramento Business Journal (3/3, Chief), the New York Times (3/3, A14, Pear, Zeleny), the Washington Times (3/3, Ward), McClatchy (3/3, Goldstein), the Christian Science Monitor (3/3, Feldmann), Bloomberg News (3/3, Runningen, Goldman), the Topeka Capital Journal (3/3, Carpenter), and AFP (3/3, Collinson) also covered the story.
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