090121: Daschle Calls for Socialized Health Care for All

(Bloomberg) -- Former U.S. Senator Thomas A. Daschle pledged that as Barack Obama's health secretary, he'll make sure everyone has access to doctors and hospitals.

Daschle, 61, also told the Senate health committee at his nomination hearing that the Food and Drug Administration has "lost the confidence" of Americans and Congress. Daschle made the comments in prepared remarks before the committee, whose chairman is Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts.

Obama chose Daschle, the former Democratic leader in the Senate and author of a book on health care, as Health and Human Services secretary and as a chief of a new White House Office of Health Reform. Daschle will lead efforts to change a system that costs $2.6 trillion a year and leaves 45 million people without basic health insurance.

"If confirmed, I will use these dual roles to marshal the talent and energy necessary to at least succeed in making health care affordable and accessible for all Americans," Daschle said.

Obama's proposal for a health-care plan available to all and modeled after Medicare, the government program for the elderly and disabled, to compete with private insurers faces criticism among Republicans.

"Any new insurance coverage must be delivered through private insurance plans," Senator Michael B. Enzi, Republican of Wyoming and his party's ranking member on the committee, said in prepared comments.

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