Kathleen Sebelius Confirmed For Secretary of Health and Human Services

Kathleen Sebelius, former Governor of Kansas, was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Her duties are numerous as she is in charge of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the FDA, and the CDC.

Secretary Sebelius received approval for her nomination on a 65 to 31 vote, as noted by the Wall Street Journal. The negatives regarding her nomination were that she is pro choice in regards to abortion and has an association with a physician who performs these procedures.

There were a few Republicans who lent their support to her, which gave her the additional five votes. The Cabinet now has a number of strong insiders for President Obama, and they will do the health care reform right and within this year.

There is a very high parallel in the philosophy surrounding health care between Sebelius, who is a Democrat, and President Obama. She will likely introduce same sounding plans about topics such as individual mandates, public sponsored individual health insurance products, and reducing the exclusions under pre existing clauses.

There were some ahead of her on President Obama’s list, but Sebelius will prove to be a strong player in the health reform arena.