Fonte: aqui.A Governadora Kathleen Sebelius deverá ser apontada por Barack Obama, como nova Secretária da Saúde do governo dos EUA, conforme se refere aqui: President Barack Obama named Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to help steer his $634 billion plan to provide every American with affordable medical coverage as head of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.
Algumas das novas tarefas da futura Secretária da Saúde (equivalente à nossa Ministra da Saúde) e o respectivo background:
- Sebelius is a two-term Democratic governor who successfully pushed to expand subsidized health-care for children in her largely Republican state.
- The nomination ended almost a month of uncertainty over who would assist Obama in developing and promoting his health plan. His previous nominee, former Senator Thomas A. Daschle, withdrew after questions were raised about his back payment of taxes.
- Sebelius would also oversee the Food and Drug Administration, which polices the U.S. food supply and approves drugs, and the National Institutes of Health, which holds responsibility for medical research.
- Sebelius previously served as the Kansas insurance commissioner. She was the first commissioner to reject a proposed conversion of a nonprofit Blue Cross Blue Shield into a for-profit company, slowing the pace of such conversions nationally.
- Obama this week presented Congress with a budget that envisions spending $634 billion over 10 years to begin overhauling the health-care system.
- The $634 billion would be a “down payment” on the president’s pledge to make health care affordable and cover the 46 million uninsured. Obama proposed financing it with increased taxes on wealthy Americans and less government money for some drugmakers and health insurers.
