#tomharkin

The Senate Finance Committee unanimously supported her nomination. She has the support of multiple former Medicare heads; one compared her to Mother Teresa. Even House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who does not like Obamacare one bit, really likes Marilyn Tavenner. Enter, Sen. Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who has put a hold on Tavenner’s nomination. Harkin is demanding, according to spokeswoman Katie Cyrul Frischmann, “An ongoing conversation about the future of the prevention fund.” That would be the health law’s Prevention and Public Health Fund, which initially was a $15 billion trust fund dedicated to supporting public health and prevention activities. Harkin has been the Prevention Fund’s main advocate since it was part of the health reform debate. While the fund’s appropriations dropped from $80 billion when it was initially proposed to $15 billion in the final version of Obamacare, that was still a significant commitment. “The Senate’s leading advocate for health promotion and disease prevention,” John McDonough, former aide to the late-Sen. Ted Kennedy,  wrote of Harkin in 2010, “Is now in an enviable position to implement and advance this agenda.” Lately though, Harkin’s position has seemed less enviable. Congress has cut away nearly $6 billion in funding to help keep doctor payments stable. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, under Tavenner’s leadership as acting administrator, has used another $454 million to help build the federal exchange.

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