A Health Reform Czar And Her Blackberry

By Kleinheider Posted on March 29, 2009 at 2:16 pm

Bill Theobold sits down with Nancy Ann DeParle, a Tennessee native and President Obama’s new director of the White House Office for Health Reform:

Tennessee’s role in the debate was emphasized in a breakout session that DeParle moderated that included two powerful House members in the health care debate, Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Joe Barton, R-Texas. DeParle made a point of calling on Nashville Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper first.

“She’s true to her Tennessee roots,” said Cooper, who calls DeParle a “superstar.”

Cooper said she combines political and business experience with “good old Tennessee common sense.” DeParle spent 90 minutes last week in Cooper’s office.

One of the first calls DeParle received was from Jack Bovender Jr., president of Nashville-based hospital giant HCA. Also offering help was L. Ben Lytle, board member of Franklin-based Healthways.

Nashville Health Care Council President Caroline Young said her group was “very pleased to have one of our own” in a key role in the health reform debate. About 300 health care companies are based in middle Tennessee, Young said.

DeParle said she also consults with Gov. Phil Bredesen, a candidate for HHS secretary himself, and Dave Goetz, head of the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration and the godfather of one of DeParle’s sons.

Who else from Tennessee has her ear?

“You want to see my BlackBerry?” she said with a laugh. “It’s almost more like who haven’t I seen.”

SEE ALSO: Tom Humphrey

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Tags: health care czar, Nancy Ann DeParle, Tennessee roots  

Health Care Czar DeParle: ‘Time To Act Is Now’

By Kleinheider Posted on March 11, 2009 at 9:55 am

The Tennessean at the head of the White House Office for Health Reform makes the case for action:

Some have suggested that we should put off fixing the system because times are tough; that we can’t afford to tackle healthcare until we fix the economy. The reality is that if we want to fix the economy, we can’t afford not to tackle healthcare.

As the president said in his opening remarks Thursday, “Healthcare reform is no longer just a moral imperative, it is a fiscal imperative. If we want to create jobs and rebuild our economy, then we must address the crushing cost of healthcare this year, in this administration.”

Exploding costs are bankrupting families and burdening businesses, dragging down state and local budgets, and piling up our national debt. The time to act is now.

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Tags: health care czar, health care reform, Nancy Ann DeParle, White House Office for Health Reform  

TNR Digs Deep On DeParle

By Kleinheider Posted on March 2, 2009 at 8:24 pm

Jonathan Cohn takes a hard look at the Tennessee woman named health care czar today:

As you may have guessed from this sketch, DeParle is smart–rocket scientist, brain surgeon, 1600 SAT smart. And she knows as much about health policy as anybody you’ll encounter in Washington. (I can attest to this personally, having interviewed her a few times.)

But DeParle also gets high marks for her political sense. She knows her way around Washington and, by all accounts, should be able to integrate herself within the White House policy operation easily. “She will complement Gov. Sebelius well, though her experience at the White House, with [HCFA], and on the Hill,” says Chris Jennings, who served as chief White House health policy advisor during the latter years of the Clinton Administration. “And she will do so as a team player.”

Despite her career-long identification with Democrats, DeParle has strong credibility with Republicans. (Representative Bill Thomas, of all people, was known to be a fan.) And, no less important for Obama, she’s popular with centrist Democrats who could–if they wanted–make health care reform difficult. “Nancy-Ann DeParle has years of experience overseeing complex health care systems at both the state and federal level, and she knows firsthand the problems Americans face trying to get coverage,” says Representative Jim Cooper, the Tennesse Democrat. “Nancy-Ann will be a great asset to the President as he leads the effort to reform health care.”

MORE: UT

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The Good Czar DeParle

By Kleinheider Posted on at 12:25 pm

The White House announces it will name a Tennessean as the new Health Care Czar.

More on DeParle here and check out a bit of news analysis over at Post Politics’ baby brother.

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Ezra Klein
Matthew Cooper
Michael Fletcher
Politico
Phil Klein

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Tags: CCMP Capital Advisors LLC, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, federal government, health care, Healthcare policy, Nancy Ann DeParle, Nancy Ann Min DeParle, Nashville, Office of Management And Budget, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services