What to Expect After the First 100 Days

This week the Senate confirmed President Obama's nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius. The Senate confirmed the Kansas governor, 65-31, despite Republican efforts to delay the vote based on her stance on abortion. However, the potential swine flu pandemic made the Senate confirmation more urgent. Although her primary focus will be on the current flu threat, Sebelius will eventually advocate for controlling health care costs, expanding coverage and increasing access.

A former president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Ms. Sebelius is an expert on insurance regulation, which is sure to be a focus of the legislation that Congressional Democrats hope to pass this year.

Sebelius was sworn in on Tuesday, marking the beginning of many health care reforms to come.

Wednesday marked an important financial turning point in President Obama's health care strategy. Congress advanced a $3.4 trillion federal budget that "prevents Republicans from blocking his proposed trillion-dollar expansion of government-provided health care over the next decade." The funding sends a clear message to Republicans that the Democrats hold a majority. While Democrats will not move Obama's health care plan through Congress without bipartisan support, they do have the power to do so without the threat of a Republican filibuster. Republicans criticize advancing the federal budget and cite it as another example of excessive Democratic spending. The federal budget does not answer how President Obama will fund the adminstration's health care coverage plan, however, which may exceed $1 trillion over the next decade.

Stuart Altman, a health care expert from Brandeis University, commends the President on creating health care policy objectives and principles that will help guide the health care reform strategy. According to Altman, the true test is imminent: how will President Obama fund a health care overhaul? Thus far, the Obama has successfully expanded health care coverage to more children and provided funding and resources to various health care initiatives in the economic stimulus package. President Obama has also called on health care representatives and members of both political parties to create multi-group support. Unfortunately, not all of the players support the proposed agenda. For example, whereas most of health care representatives support requiring employers to cover employees and do not support a government run coverage plan, politicians favor the opposite.

As the first one hundred days draw to a close, only time will tell what direction health care reform will take.