The Senate Finance Committee confirmed Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Tuesday morning to join President Barack Obama's cabinet as the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary.
Confirmed by a vote of 15 to 8, pending full Senate approval, she will be key in implementing healthcare IT advancement measures included in the economic recovery package. The full Senate is expected to take up her nomionation by the end of the week.
Sebelius will be responsible for more than $100 billion allotted to healthcare in the stimulus package, signed into law on Feb. 17. The package includes $87 billion for Medicaid, $39 billion for COBRA and $1.1 billion for federal research on comparative healthcare effectiveness.
In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee on April 2, Sebelius said the economic stimulus package makes positive investments now that will yield health and economic dividends later.
"Through health information technology, it lays the foundation for a 21st Century system to reduce medical errors, lower healthcare costs and empower health consumers," she said. "In the next five years, HHS will set the standards for privacy and interoperability, test models and certify the technology and offer incentives for hospitals and doctors to adopt it."
Sebelius will also be pivotal in implementing healthcare initiatives set forth in the new law and play a key role in implementing comprehensive healthcare reform that Congress expects to pass this summer.
The stimulus package allots an estimated $17 billion in incentives for Medicare and Medicaid providers who can prove "meaningful use" of healthcare IT. Sebelius will be responsible for defining "meaningful use," as well as creating health IT standards.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), one of eight Republicans to oppose the nomination Tuesday morning, said Sebelius shows "insufficient commitment" to putting safeguards on comparative effectiveness, a process that will use health IT as its foundation. In a statement made before the committee, Kyl said he has concerns that without safeguards, the federal government could use comparative effectiveness studies to deny care based on cost.
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking minority leader of the Senate Finance Committee, was also among the eight Republicans who did not vote to confirm Sebelius.
In nominating Sebelius on March 1, Obama said he expects her to work closely with White House healthcare point person Nancy-Ann DeParle to help move his healthcare reform objectives through Congress. Obama has made healthcare IT advancement a cornerstone of his health reform plans.
Healthcare stakeholders have been disappointed in the delay to appoint an HHS secretary. Sebelius' nomination follows the loss of former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Obama's first choice for HHS secretary, who stepped down on Feb. 3, due to tax indiscretions. Sebelius reported and corrected "minor inadvertent tax errors" prior to her confirmation hearings in April.
Earlier this month, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said, "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Gov. Sebelius has the political experience, determination and bipartisan work ethic to get the job done with Congress this year. She's the right person for the job."
