Implementing Healthcare Reform — An Interview With HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
After having served as a Democratic state legislator, insurance commissioner, and governor of the traditionally Republican state of Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius was sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on April 28, 2009. A sprawling agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid and oversees the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and other agencies, HHS spends about 25% of the federal budget. Sebelius took charge of the department during a tumultuous period, as Congress debated the sweeping healthcare reform bill that HHS must now administer. Sebelius shared her opinions in an interview conducted by John Iglehart, a national correspondent for the Journal, on December 21, 2010.