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(Circulation. 2001;103:e9051.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.

Bush Administration and the New Senate Converge on Health Care

Ward Casscells, MD

University of Texas, Health Science Center at Houston

As his administration approaches its 6-month mark, President Bush has filled his cabinet, survived a showdown with China over a spy plane, and seen his $1.35 trillion tax cut passed by the House and Senate just as the Republicans lost control of the Senate with the change of party by Senator James Jeffords of Vermont, who became an independent. Yet both Bush and the new Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) agree that they ought to be able to agree on a patients’ bill of rights, and both have said it is a top priority.

To date, the Bush Administration has moved cautiously on health policy. For Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), President Bush selected Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, a conservative best known for successfully pruning the welfare roles in Wisconsin. Less well known is that, to do so, he offered innovative solutions for day care and health care for the former welfare recipients entering the work place. Thompson was known as a supporter of scientific research and a critic of governmental bureaucracy, particularly at HHS and its Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA).

In filling out his staff and agency directors, Thompson and the White House, advised by Senator Bill Frist, MD (R-TN), have considered hundreds of nominees (Disclosure: the author served on the Bush-Cheney Transition Committee). To run HCFA, they tapped Thomas Scully, who was formerly in charge of Medicare and Medicaid budget oversight at the Office of Management and Budget under former President . . . [Full Text of this Article]