Word: reformer
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Insurance companies often treat mental and physical illnesses differently, and those seeking mental health services wait a decade on average before receiving treatment, U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy said at the Institute of Politics yesterday. Kennedy, a Rhode Island Democrat, spoke on the need to reform health care systems to better address the need for affordable addiction and mental health treatment. The event began with an introduction by Minnesota Congressman Jim Ramstad, who talked about finding himself in a Sioux Falls jail in 1981 before finally seeking treatment for his addiction. According to Ramstad, over 26 million people currently suffer from...
...this answer would not do, not on national television and not to the President. So DeParle quickly accepted the inevitability of her situation, turning to the cameras without any notes and rapidly thanking Obama for appointing her as the nation's director of the White House Office of Health Reform, a job that will put her at the center of this year's effort to overhaul both the cost and the availability of medical care in America. "I'll just say that I'm really honored," she began, speaking swiftly. (See who's who in Obama's White House...
...More important, DeParle is universally known in health-care-policy circles as one of the brightest minds of her generation. Obama now hopes that she is one of a select group who knows enough to make health reform happen this year. Her position, which is informally called White House health czar, was originally created as an add-on title for former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, who had to withdraw from consideration for Health and Human Services Secretary because of tax problems. But with Daschle out, the White House decided that it still needed a high-level coordinator...
...stands, there are lots of cooks in the health-care-reform kitchen. But none of them is exclusively focused on that crucial, demanding effort. Sebelius has a bipartisan reputation and a background as her state's insurance commissioner, but at HHS she will oversee a massive organization with 10 operating divisions. Orszag must focus on the entire government budget. The head of the National Economic Council, Larry Summers, who has taken a particular interest in health care, has a portfolio that ranges from bank bailouts to global financial regulation. The other legislative, political and managerial staff at the White House...
...Although the responsibility is new for DeParle, the area of expertise is not. Back in 1993, when Hillary Clinton mounted an effort to reform health care, DeParle was at the Office of Management and Budget working on health-expenditure budget-crunching and statistical analysis. Her interest in managing and reforming Medicare and Medicaid has never really abated. "I don't know if you would say this is her second bite at the apple or if you would say this is a long-standing meal," jokes Chris Jennings, who served as Bill Clinton's chief health adviser...