Correction: The original version of this report misstated the location of the Office of Health Reform. It is located at the White House. The article was also amended to reflect changes in development of energy policy.
As part of the White House's reorganization that has been going on since the midterm elections, the White House is dissolving its Office of Health Reform and transferring its work to the Domestic Policy Council, according to two administration officials. The staff of the Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy is also being brought under the DPC.
The 16-month-old health office, headed by Nancy-Ann DeParle who is now White House deputy chief of staff, proved integral in securing passage of the administration’s health care package in 2010.
In previous administrations, health policy issues have fallen under DPC purview. In the Obama White House, the council is headed by Director Melody Barnes.
Meanwhile, longtime health-policy analyst Jeanne Lambrew has moved from the Department of Health and Human Services to the DPC as deputy assistant to the president for health policy. Further, Liz Fowler, who was a key Senate Finance Committee staffer who helped shape the health care reform package before taking an HHS post last July, will join the White House’s National Economic Council as special assistant to the president for health care and economic policy.
The Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, once headed by Carol Browner, will see its staff move to the DPC. Heather Zichal has been tapped to lead the policy development work. Zichal is deputy assistant to the president for energy and climate change policy.
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