Sebelius picked to lead health

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s choice to lead the Health and Human Services Department has a history of bucking the insurance industry, which faces the biggest hit under Obama’s initial health care reform plan.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius gets her introduction to the reform debate at a White House summit Obama will convene Thursday.

Obama introduced Sebelius on Monday as his choice to run HHS, including overseeing Medicare and Medicaid, the twin government health programs for the elderly and the poor. Their spiraling costs threaten to bankrupt the country.

The 60-year-old, second-term governor has cultivated an image as someone who stands up to insurers.

She was state insurance commissioner in 2001 when Indianapolis-based Anthem Insurance Cos. Inc. offered to buy Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Kansas for $190 million as it sought to expand its holdings nationwide. It promised to maintain coverage levels.

Sebelius blocked the deal in February 2002 after concluding that premiums would rise under Anthem’s ownership. She prevailed when the state’s highest court overturned a lower court ruling that she had exceeded her authority by rejecting the offer.

Later that year, Sebelius made her decision against the merger a central component of her campaign for governor, using it to help craft her image as a staunch consumer advocate who would stand up to powerful special interests.

As the nation’s health secretary, Sebelius likely will face a similar, but bigger fight: pushing through the changes Obama outlined in the 2010 budget he released last week. It calls for setting aside $634 billion over 10 years as a down payment on health care overhaul.

About half the sum would come from spending cuts in government health programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid.

But the biggest cut of all – nearly $177 billion – would come from reducing payments to private insurance plans now serving about 10 million Medicare recipients, about one-fourth of the seniors and disabled people enrolled in the programs.

“Health care reform that reduces costs while expanding coverage is no longer just a dream we hope to achieve. It’s a necessity we have to achieve,” Obama said in the East Room of the White House as he introduced Sebelius.

Sebelius told Obama she shares his belief “that we can’t fix the economy without fixing health care.”

A Roman Catholic who supports abortion rights, Sebelius’ nomination prompted angry reactions from anti-abortion groups outraged by her ties to Dr. George Tiller, a late-term abortion provider in Wichita, Kan. Groups including Operation Rescue and Concerned Women for America vowed to mobilize against her. The American Life League said it was rolling out a “Stop Sebelius” petition and asking other groups to join.