Who will replace Tom Daschle? There may not be an equal candidate, one with the experience and potential to drive health care reform, but there is a growing line of qualified applicants for the position of Health Secretary, as well as pressure to fill the opening. The New York Times offered five possible replacements, all of them current or former governors, saying "the effort [needed] to cover the uninsured and rein in health costs...is bigger than one person."All evidence suggests that President Obama needs to act soon to fill this position and give the new candidate the necessary tools and time to begin drafting any health care reforms. As the Economist reminds us, the longer this issue sits on the table, the uglier it starts to look. Best to handle it in "stealth".
As the financial crisis deepens, so too does the difficulty of health care reform. The costs of health care are tremendous and the complexity of the issue make it a burdensome political topic. In the past, health care has been hung up by sluggish presidencies and waning public support. As national health care benefits for low-income families decline - every 1% increase in unemployment leads to an increase of 1m in the number of unemployed and 1.1m in the numbers joining Medicaid and SCHIP - the difficulty of managing the health care crisis inversely increases.
Among that list of five governors, former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber, represents a calculated pick. He lacks much of the political clout held by Daschle and others, but as a doctor, his commitment to the issue is sound and noteworthy. America's health care crisis may be stealth, but the man tasked with it's revival certainly shouldn't be. Kitzhaber just may be able to bring attention to this neglected post without a litany of improper tax returns.
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