Reuters
UPDATE - Bush picks Mark McClellan to head Medicare
Friday February 20, 9:24 am ET
WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday will nominate the head of the Food and Drug Administration (News - Websites) , Mark McClellan, to run the agency that oversees Medicare and its new prescription drug program for seniors, administration officials said.
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An announcement was expected on Friday morning for the post, which requires Senate confirmation.
McClellan would head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and oversee implementation of a new law that will expand Medicare to include prescription drug benefits for seniors.
The job was vacant because of the resignation in December of Tom Scully.
Some Senate aides say McClellan is popular both among Republicans and Democrats. "People like him on both sides of the aisle and many lawmakers foresee a fairly quick confirmation," a senior Senate aide said.
McClellan has won rave reviews from the pharmaceutical industry for his efforts to streamline the FDA drug review process and help reduce costs for manufacturers. But consumer groups have criticized him as being too industry-friendly.
Before being appointed to the FDA, McClellan served on Bush's Council of Economic Advisers. His younger brother, Scott, is Bush's press secretary.
Bush had hoped to get a big political boost after he signed the Medicare prescription drug bill into law in December.
It adds an outpatient prescription drug benefit -- starting in 2006 -- for the 40 million elderly and disabled Medicare recipients. It also contains huge changes to encourage a far bigger role for private health insurers and managed care plans.
But so far, the legislation may be more of a political liability.
The White House acknowledged last month that adding prescription drug coverage to Medicare would cost at least $530 billion over 10 years -- 33 percent more than the $400 billion Congress and the administration had promised when the law was approved less than two months ago.
The higher estimate cast doubt on Bush's plans to cut the deficit in half by 2009 and sparked an outcry from Democrats as well as from Bush's fiscal conservative base. |
