Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday named a group of senior Republican senators to lead GOP health reform efforts in the 111th Congress, CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat, 1/12). The senators are Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee ranking member Mike Enzi (Wyo.), Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Budget Committee ranking member Judd Gregg (N.H.) and Orrin Hatch (Utah).

"Republicans believe health care reform requires input from our entire Conference and cooperation across the aisle because access to affordable quality health care is an issue that touches all Americans," McConnell said (Stanton, Roll Call, 1/12). Grassley said changes to the health care system must be "fiscally responsible and changes with broad-based political support will be more durable and effective." Hatch said GOP proposals will manage costs "through more efficient and quality-focused health care delivery, and by building on private sector choices" (CQ HealthBeat, 1/12).

Kennedy's Legacy
Roll Call on Tuesday examined how Senate HELP Committee Chair Edward Kennedy's (D-Mass.) "precarious state" as a result of his recent diagnosis of brain cancer has "transformed President-elect Barack Obama's plan to reform national health care into a legacy project capping" Kennedy's "nearly 50-year Senate career." Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said, "Having him there gives this a sense of urgency. And, they appreciate what an effort he's making personally -- with his own health struggles -- to be there, and that has value to it" (Drucker, Roll Call, 1/13).