For Marilyn Tavenner, the road to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator won't be easy. Not long after receiving a unanimous endorsement by the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has placed a hold on Tavenner's nomination, The Hill's Healthwatch reported. The hold indefinitely blocks a full Senate vote on Tavenner's nomination to head CMS, which has been without a permanent administrator since 2006.
Harkin's office, according to Healthwatch, cited his disappointment with how the Obama administration plans to use resources from the Public Health and Prevention Fund to finance other health reform provisions.
"Robbing prevention when we know these efforts can improve people's health and lower healthcare costs goes against the very mission of healthcare reform," he said Wednesday during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing. Article