Hospice and home care providers are aware that Health Care Reform is a top priority for the new administration in the White House.  This increased scrutiny and priority raises concerns regarding reimbursement and coverage changes.  While the White House appointments to the post of Secretary of Health and Human Services has run into some glitches, i.e., former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle’s nomination ran into difficulty in the Senate hearings and led to his eventual withdrawal of his name from consideration, the movement towards health care reform is still progressing.

After some trial and error with the nominations for cabinet positions, the establishment of the office and appointment of its director, i.e., the Director of the White House Office of Health Reform is now in place.  The President issued an executive order to establish the White House Office of Health Reform, which is available in its complete format at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Executive-Order-Establishing-The-White-House-Office-Of-Health-Reform/.

The key functions of this office and its director are in the area of advancing the President’s agenda on health care reform.  The functions focus on relationship and action relative to the President’s health care reform policies and goals, and are outlined in the Executive Order as the following:

• provide leadership for and coordination of the development of high-quality, affordable and accessible health care
• slow the growth of health costs
• work with executive departments and agencies to ensure that federal government policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President's stated goals (with respect to health reform)
• integrate the President's policy agenda, concerning health reform, across the federal government
• coordinate public outreach activities that are designed to gather input from the public and from demonstration and pilot projects, as well as public-private partnerships
• bring to the President's attention concerns, ideas and policy options for the strengthening, increasing the efficiency, and improving health care system quality
• work with state, local and community policymakers and public officials to expand coverage, improve quality and efficiency, and slow the growth of health costs
• develop and implement strategic initiatives to strengthen the public agencies and private organizations that can improve health care system performance
• work with the Congress, executive departments and agencies to eliminate barriers that impede effective delivery of efficient and high-quality health care
• monitor implementation of the President's agenda on health reform
• help ensure that policymakers across the executive branch work toward the President's health care agenda [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Executive-Order-Establishing-The-White-House-Office-Of-Health-Reform/]

The individual, Nancy-Ann Min DeParle, who has been appointed to head up this initiative, is familiar to home care and hospice providers, as she previously served in the capacity of head of the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Nancy-Ann Min DeParle is expected to work closely with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Designee Kathleen Sebelius in this health reform focus and allow for the establishment of the Office of Health Reform at the Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS].  Kansas Governor, Kathleen Sebelius, has not yet been confirmed by the Senate and is awaiting her appointment to the Cabinet post of Secretary of Health and Human Services.

For more detail and information on the activities of the White House Office of Health Care Reform and the Department of Health and Human Services, the followings references can be accessed.

References:

EXECUTIVE ORDER. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF HEALTH REFORM. Office of the Press Secretary. April 2009. Retrieved from: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Executive-Order-Establishing-The-White-House-Office-Of-Health-Reform/

White House Forum on Health Reform Report. March 2009. Retrieved from: http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/White_House_Forum_on_Health_Reform_Report.pdf