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FACTBOX-Possible candidates for U.S. health secretary

03 Feb 2009 23:06:52 GMT
Source: Reuters

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination as President Barack Obama's health secretary on Tuesday, after a furor erupted over his paying $140,000 in back taxes late.

Here are some candidates who Obama might now nominate as Health and Human Services Secretary:

HOWARD DEAN, FORMER DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

Dean was a practicing physician before entering politics and he had hoped to be selected for the HHS post. He recently wrapped up a four-year term as Democratic Party chairman, overseeing a widely praised effort to make the party more competitive in conservative areas where Republicans usually prevail. Dean was a 2004 presidential candidate and has also served as governor of Vermont. His partisan reputation could make it difficult for any healthcare-overhaul effort to win Republican support in Congress.

DAVID CUTLER, HARVARD UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR

Cutler has focused on improving the quality of healthcare as an economics professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and argues counterintuitively that skyrocketing costs are a sign that the system is providing results. He has also argued that packaged foods has led to a rise in obesity.

Cutler advised Obama during the presidential campaign and worked on President Bill Clinton's failed attempt to overhaul healthcare in the 1990s.

KANSAS GOV. KATHLEEN SEBELIUS

Sebelius was considered a leading candidate to be Obama's vice presidential running mate last summer and her name surfaced as a candidate for a variety of Cabinet positions after Obama won the election. She said in December that she was not interested in serving in the Obama administration because she needed to focus on her state's budget woes.

FORMER OREGON GOV. JOHN KITZHABER

A former emergency-room doctor, Kitzhaber expanded the Oregon state health plan when he served as governor from 1995 to 2003. Since leaving office, he has headed several healthcare-policy groups.

TENNESSEE REP. JIM COOPER

Cooper, a centrist Democrat who represents Nashville, wrote the chief alternative to the failed Clinton healthcare plan in 1994.

SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN MAX BAUCUS

Baucus, a Montana Democrat, oversees the Medicare and Medicaid public healthcare programs as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. He has said he is not interested in the cabinet position.

FORMER NEW JERSEY SENATOR BILL BRADLEY

Bradley, a former professional basketball player, backed universal healthcare as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2000.

(Compiled by Andy Sullivan in Washington; editing by David Wiessler)

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