Kennedy wants Clinton to lead health reform push Nick Juliano

Published: Wednesday November 19, 2008





Print This Email This Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has been offered a prominent spot in the Democratic senate's push for healthcare reform. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), who's crafting a healthcare bill, wants the former first lady to lead the push for one of his proposals.



Kennedy asked Clinton to lead a working group to explore reforming insurance coverage as a means to achieve comprehensive healthcare reform. Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) will lead working groups on public health and on improving quality.



"I look forward very much to working with them, with all our colleagues on the committee and throughout Congress, and with the Obama Administration to achieve the goal at long last of quality, affordable health care for all Americans, Kennedy said Tuesday.



The Los Angeles Times has more details. The potential assignment comes a decade and a half after Clinton led a controversial effort to reshape the healthcare system as first lady during her husband's first term in the White House. That campaign collapsed amid bitter opposition from many in the healthcare industry and accusations that Clinton ran a secretive process that ignored input from important stakeholders.



President-elect Barack Obama has not indicated how he plans to tackle healthcare. But many involved in the debate have high hopes that his push will be more successful.



Doctors and business and consumer groups are gearing up for an effort to improve care and bring about 46 million uninsured people into the system, something Obama and Clinton made centerpieces of their presidential campaigns. Clinton's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.



