During a Chicago press conference this morning, President-elect Barack Obama officially announced his appointment of Tom Daschle as Secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.  Perhaps reflecting the sea of change promised by the incoming administration, Daschle will also serve as director of an entirely new program, the White House Office of Health Reform.

One of Daschle’s primary responsibilities will be an overhaul of the current system of health care that is the most expensive in the world although as many as 45 million Americans have no health insurance coverage whatsoever, a situation that severely limits their access to adequate medical care.

To advance this mission, Jeanne M. Lambrew will serve as deputy director of the White House Office of Health Reform.  Lambrew was a former aide during the Clinton Administration.

Daschle said at today’s press conference that current healthcare costs are growing at an unsustainable rate and leaving the uninsured in an unconscionable position.  President-elect Obama said the “runaway cost of health care is punishing families and businesses” across the nation.  He said healthcare reform must become an “intimately woven” aspect of any economic recovery plan and must be handled with the same sense of emergency the rest of the economic crisis is commanding.

In his role as reformer, Daschle expects strong support from the American public but equally strong opposition from drug companies, makers of medical devices, trade groups, and a host of other entities involved with healthcare delivery.  Nevertheless, he expressed determination in moving beyond what he called healthcare based on the “worst possible criteria: one’s ability to pay or one’s health condition.”