Most weren't surprised when rumors were confirmed that former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle had accepted the offer to be President-Elect Obama's Health and Human Services Secretary and likely also the Health Czar in the White House. After all, Daschle has spent the last year and a half at the Center for American Progress (full disclosure, I am also an employee there) proposing concrete solutions to the health care crisis, including proposing a Federal Health Board--an independent health board similar to the Federal Reserve that is situated as a fast-acting and independent body that oversees decisions about health care.  He even released a book called Critical: What We Can Do About the Health Care Crisis earlier this year.  

But underneath the praise from leaders in the health care reform movement were some dissenters, some for reasons that Amie Newman already outlined on this site. Daschle, when he was in the Senate, represented the very conservative state of South Dakota--the state that twice proposed an outright ban on abortion that was narrowly defeated--and has been a lifelong Catholic. Some worry that these factors may make him willing to compromise on women's health in health care reform.  

Gloria Feldt, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood from 1994-2005, was less than excited to hear the news of Daschle's appointment. "Tom Daschle's strengths are that he is well-connected in Washington, he is well-connected in the health care industry, although some may say that there are conflicts there, he fully understands and knows the congressional process of making legislation, of policy creation, and he I think enjoys a great deal of respect from members of Congress. That said, many of those very strengths are his weaknesses as well," Feldt said. She notes that Dashle wasn't particularly known for a strong leadership style, but came to the debate as a compromiser, especially following the Democrats' electoral defeat of 2000. 

In particular Feldt pointed to meetings she had with Daschle in the early days of the Bush administration about anti-choice judicial nominees. "Tom Daschle's response was to essentially roll over and play dead," she said. "His first answer was, ‘These guys are going to get confirmed anyway. Why are you asking us to fight?'" Feldt noted that Daschle saw fighting against atrocious judicial nominees something he would do only after grassroots activists organized to oppose them, without any leadership from the Senate first. Eventually women's groups and other activists successfully opposed the appointment of some of the most egregious nominated justices such as Charles Pickering. 

Although Daschle has earned respect for his policy papers on health care reform, there still remain a lot of questions about his ties to the insurance industry as well. In addition to his role at CAP, Daschle is a special policy advisor at the business law firm Alston + Bird, a firm that counts a number of heath insurance companies as clients: Allegiance Healthcare Corporation, Emory University and Emory Healthcare, The Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority, HealthSouth Corporation, and the NDCHealth Corporation, among many others. Past clients aren't always indicative of future favors, but activists like Feldt are worried about Daschle's connections to corporate interests when it comes to health care. 

But while activists like Feldt are concerned about Dachle's appointment, others are more optimistic. "We're thrilled," said Judy Waxman, director of the National Women's Law Center, an organization that advocates for women's interests and health in the heath care debate. "We're aware of [Daschle's] views from his book. He's obviously a strong leader." 

Other groups, like Physicians for Reproductive Heath and Choice, anticipate the end of politicization of women's rights on the national level. "Tom Daschle's appointment ... will allow him to halt the dangerous trend of HHS playing politics with women's healthcare," said Dr. Suzanne Poppema, board chair.

"I am confident that ... Daschle will carry out President-elect Obama's commitment to reducing unintended pregnancy through common-sense, common-ground solutions such as family planning," said Mary Jane Gallagher, president and CEO of the National Family Planning and reproductive health organization.

The National Women's Law Center's Waxman is optimistic that unlike when President Clinton proposed a plan for health care reform in 1994, this time, Congress, the White House, and the agencies will have open channels of communication. With Daschle taking both the role of HHS secretary and heath czar in the White House, as well as with his previous ties to Congress, there's sure to be a heightened level of coordination. 

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus recently proposed a white paper outlining what health care reform might look like. The plan, as Ezra Klein noted, is very similar to the plans we saw the Democratic candidates propose during the primaries. The similarities shouldn't be surprising at all, Waxman said. 

"One of the reasons that at least some people fought for the failure of the Clinton plan is that it was new on the scene. It was something that had been floating around and didn't have enough time to germinate," Waxman said. "We've now had 16 years which is enough time for various groups to get their perspective on this. Everybody hated it because they hadn't really seen it." 

Most reproductive health and rights groups, as well as policy wonks, that have been arguing over health reforms for more than a decade are excited to see a new face on HHS that isn't Michael Levitt. Although there are a few that may anticipate Daschle's background may prompt him into more compromises than is necessary, there's also a good reason to believe that with a former legislator on the face of the reforms, health care reform may finally move from hope to reality.