Speculation is swirling about whom our next HHS Secretary will be. President Obama is expected to make an announcement very soon. Reliable sources tell me that it might be Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Below is information on Governor Sebelius. The information below was taken from various sources found on the Internet.
Pledging independent leadership to move Kansas forward, in 2003 Kathleen Sebelius became the 44th Governor of the State of Kansas. Governor Sebelius was reelected to a second term in 2006.
At the heart of Governor Sebelius’ administration is a commitment to growing the Kansas economy and creating jobs; ensuring every Kansas child receives a quality education; protecting Kansas families and communities; improving access to quality, affordable health care; and taking advantage of the state’s renewable energy assets. In 2005, Time magazine named her one of the nation’s top five governors.
Since the rising cost of health care is a threat to families and businesses, the Governor is working to ensure Kansans have access to quality and affordable health care. She’s also proposed providing health insurance to every uninsured Kansas child from birth to age five in order to give these children a healthy start on life.
Governor Sebelius serves on the National Governors Association’s Executive Committee and is co-chair of the National Governors Association’s initiative, Securing a Clean Energy Future. Sebelius is the immediate past chair of the Education Commission of the States and as past chair of the Democratic Governors Association, she currently serves on the DGA Executive Committee.
Married to husband, Gary, a federal magistrate judge, for 34 years, they have two sons: Ned and John. Both Sebelius boys are products of the Topeka public school system, pre-kindergarten through high school. Ned is a law student, and John is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design.
Prior to becoming Governor, Sebelius served for eight years as a representative in the Kansas Legislature and eight years as Insurance Commissioner. She is credited with bringing the agency out from under the influence of the insurance industry. She refused to take campaign contributions from insurers and blocked the proposed merger of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, the state's largest health insurer, with an Indiana-based company. The decision by Sebelius marked the first time the corporation had been rebuffed in its acquisition attempts.
While she was Kansas Insurance Commissioner, she chaired the NAIC’s Health Insurance Committee and was President of the NAIC in 2001. In those capacities, she played the lead role in developing NAIC policies around health insurance. For example, she was active nationally in the implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and helped draft a proposed national bill of rights for patients. She also worked with multiple state commissioners with a variety of markets to develop NAIC recommendations around the issues.
Healthy Kansas is one of Governor Sebelius’ initiatives. This initiative is designed to contain runaway health care costs, streamline the health care system, and make health insurance and prescription drugs more affordable for thousands of children, working parents, and small businesses. Throughout 2005, a group of Kansans representing multiple disciplines and organizations came together to identify and adopt health priorities that would improve the health of Kansans. Healthy Kansans 2010 builds on a nationwide health promotion and disease prevention agenda called Healthy People 2010. This process resulted in a set of recommendations for change. Progress would be measured by 10 Leading Health Indicators: Physical Activity, Overweight and Obesity, Tobacco Use, Substance Abuse, Responsible Sexual Behavior, Mental Health, Injury and Violence, Environmental Quality, Immunization, and Access to Health Care.
Healthy Kansans 2010 also identified three issues impacting multiple health indicators:
1) Reducing and eliminating health disease disparities among segments of the population that need to improve the most. These disparities stem from many factors, including race/ethnicity, age, gender, geography, social and economic status, and disability status.
2) System interventions to address social determinants of health, which include income, education, and social supports.
3) Early disease prevention, risk identification and intervention for women, children and adolescents.
As part of the Healthy Kansas Initiative, Governor Sebelius formed the Governor’s Council on Fitness. This council encourages increased physical activity, healthy diets and tobacco use prevention by sharing information with Kansans and partnering with businesses, schools and individuals to promote healthy lifestyles.
Since Sebelius became governor, the state has expanded cancer screenings, allowed more residents to keep their health insurance up to 18 months after leaving their jobs and granted income tax deductions to help some lower their insurance costs. It also has increased funding for "safety net" clinics and expanded state medical and dental coverage for pregnant women.
April, 2003 – Require adequate insurance coverage for agritourism; should either clarify legislatively that these businesses are covered, or require insurance companies to offer adequate coverage
January, 2004 – Obtain better prices for prescription and services; created Governor’s Office of Health Planning and Finance to work on plans to obtain better prices for prescription drugs and other health care services by leveraging buying power in the marketplace
June, 2004 – Cutting Medicaid will increase number of uninsured; warned that Federal Government did not plan to extend one-time increase in Medicaid funding and would force states to cut budget; complained about slow payments.
November, 2006 – Urged Legislature to insure all Kansas children from birth to age five; did not pass
November, 2006 – Supported I-Save-RX: Low cost prescriptions from Canada and Europe; Kansan now participates in this initiative
January, 2008 – First step of overhaul: health care to 10 million children; Democratic response to 2008 State of the Union address; “stronger as a nation when our people have access to the highest-quality, most-affordable health care. When our businesses can compete in the global marketplace without the burden of rising health care costs here at home. . . A large majority of the Congress is ready to provide health care to 10 million American children, as a first step in overhauling our health care system.”
For Immediate Release
October 22, 2008
Nicole Corcoran, Press Secretary
785.368.8500
Health care reform
The following is a column by Governor Kathleen Sebelius:
Last month, we received some discouraging but not surprising news about health care coverage in our state. There are now more Kansans without health insurance than at any other time this decade. Nearly 340,000 Kansans do not have health insurance, including 58,000 children. This is the third year in a row that our uninsured numbers have increased.
The Legislature formed the Kansas Health Policy Authority and asked for a plan for comprehensive health care reform. Last year they received that plan, which included input from Kansas employers, families and health care providers, and would have insured far more Kansans. Not only would more Kansans have access to basic health coverage, but the plan included a number of proposals to lower costs for those Kansans with health insurance.
I endorsed the plan; as did many Republicans and Democrats, and those legislators deserve our respect and gratitude. But the leadership and the majority failed to move forward, so we made no progress. Costs continue to rise and more Kansas employers and families are dropping coverage.
We cannot wait any longer. The 2009 Legislature must get to work on health care reform. There is no more time to waste. All Kansans deserve access to quality health care, and they’re counting on the Legislature. The time for real leadership and action on health care is now.
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