Posted on behalf of Meredith Wadman

Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, a Democrat known for her bipartisanship and health care expertise, was nominated as secretary of the giant US Department of Health and Human Services by President Barack Obama on Monday. Sebelius, 60, if confirmed by the US Senate, will play a lead role as the president seeks a dramatic overhaul of the US health care system.

The nomination comes one month after then-nominee Thomas Daschle, formerly the top Democrat in the Senate, withdrew under fire for failing to pay $128,000 in back takes. Sebelius (whose name is pronounced seh BEEL yuhs, AP says, so not to be confused with the Finnish composer) will lack Daschle’s extensive network of Washington contacts and experience.

Obama also named the more experienced Nancy-Ann DeParle as his top White House advisor on health reform. She headed the US’s giant Medicare and Medicaid programmes [for the elderly, poor and disabled] during the Clinton administration.

“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.

As governor in Republican-leaning Kansas, Sebelius, a Roman Catholic, has drawn criticism from the Church and anti-abortion activisists for twice vetoing bills seeking to limit late-term abortions. Her nomination may speed the naming of other leaders in the vast department of 65,000 employees, including the chiefs of the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Image: Kathleen Sebelius/Wikimedia Commons