The Burrill Report: Advancing Healthcare Reform After Daschle (.MP3,13.77 Mb)

The Obama Administration’s drive to reform healthcare suffered a serious setback when the president’s pick to lead the effort, Capitol Hill veteran Tom Daschle, suddenly bowed after embarrassing tax revelations. Daschle withdrew his nomination to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, he said he will not serve as director of the newly created White House Office of Health Reform. The end of Daschle’s cabinet bid was a blow since many believed the Democrat from South Dakota, who spent 26 years in Congress, was uniquely qualified to lead the reform effort. Daschle was respected on both sides of the aisle and was viewed as someone who could shepherd complex and controversial healthcare reform through the rough-and-tumble world of Washington politics. What’s more, he had penned the book Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis, which provides a blueprint for overhauling the U.S. healthcare system. We spoke to Henry Aaron, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, about what Daschle’s withdrawal means to healthcare reform and where the Obama administration goes from here.