Kennedy Appoints Clinton To Lead Senate Healthcare Working Group

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Despite being widely reported as the frontrunner for the next secretary of State, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has been asked by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, to lead a working group on healthcare reform.

Kennedy, back to his work in the Senate for the first time in July, has created three working groups to explore how to reform the nation's heathcare system. One team will focus on prevention and public health, and will be led by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA). Another will concentrate on "improvement in the quality of care," Kennedy said, and will be headed by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD). Clinton leads the working group in charge of improving insurance coverage.

As first lady, Clinton had authored an ambitious healthcare plan for then-President Bill Clinton that ended in political disaster. She also frequently championed healthcare reform during her primary campaign against Barack Obama, criticizing the former freshman Illinois senator for pushing proposal that she said leaves "at least 15 million people without coverage."

Clinton had proposed a $110 billion a year program that requires every American to purchase insurance as part of "shared responsibility." Her plan reduces insurance costs by offering tax breaks to individuals and employers. She and Obama had both said they would fund their healthcare plans by by getting rid of President George W. Bush's tax cuts for people with incomes higher than $250,000. Obama's plan expands coverage by including children, but does not include individual mandates.

Clinton's call for universal healthcare was included in the 2008 Democratic Party Platform, in party to recognize her historic campaign. She is now being vetted as a potential secretary of State, according to reports. The vetting has reportedly included an examination of the her husband's business dealings.

Kennedy's creating of working groups for his committee comes less than a week after the first Democratic proposal for healthcare reform after the election was unveiled by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chair of the Senate Finance Committee.

Baucus' 89-page plan requires most employers to provide coverage to their workers or pay into a fund. Employers would get a tax credit for offering insurance, but the credit will be based on the size of their company. The plan, which has no total cost estimate, is similar to the healthcare proposal of Obama except that it requires everyone to have insurance.

Baucus' committee has jurisdiction over Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program and other health entitlement programs

In his statement announcing his working groups on Tuesday, Kennedy said, "Our committee is fortunate to have the services of major leaders who are committed to improving health care for the American people. Senator Harkin, Senator Mikulski, and Senator Clinton have generously offered to step forward and assume an expanded role on critical aspects of health reform. I commend them for their leadership, and I look forward very much to working with them, with all our colleagues on the committee and throughout Congress, and with the Obama Administration to achieve the goal at long last of quality, affordable health care for all Americans."

Kennedy, the second most senior member of the Senate, underwent brain surgery on June 2 after being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. The diagnosis was made after he suffered two seizures in May. He has been undergoing treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital. His first public appearance after his surgery was during a floor vote in July on a controversial Medicare bill.