PFCD’s Executive Director, Ken Thorpe talks about the policy priorities of the new Administration and the new Congress and implications for health reform.

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As we conclude the longest and most historically significant Presidential campaign in decades, the focus now turns to the policy priorities of the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress.

While the economy has become the central focus for both the new Administration and Congress, health care looms large as an area of concern for Americans. President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign platform focused strongly on health reform and he has said that reforming the health care system remains one of his key policy priorities.

Health care remains an area of concern for the American people as well: An October 2008 survey by the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) found that after the economy, health care is the issue that voters want to hear about most, with ties to fears about economic security.