HHS names interim replacement for Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs

HHS on Friday named Evelyn Kappeler, a senior legislative analyst, to serve as an interim replacement for Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Population Affairs Eric Keroack, the Washington Post reports.

Kappeler served as acting director of OPA before Keroack's appointment in November 2006 (Lee, Washington Post, 3/31).

Keroack on Thursday announced that he will resign from the post to focus on an unspecified action taken against his private medical practice in Massachusetts by state Medicaid officials.

The Bush administration in November 2006 appointed Keroack -- who was then medical director for A Woman's Concern, a pregnancy-counseling organization -- to the position, which does not require Senate confirmation.

Keroack advised HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on issues including reproductive health and adolescent pregnancy.

He also administered $283 million in annual family planning grants that HHS says are "designed to provide access to contraceptive supplies and information to all who want and need them with priority given to low-income persons."

Many family planning advocates reportedly were angered by the appointment, and 14 Democratic senators and seven Democratic members of the House in November 2006 sent letters to Leavitt calling for Keroack's appointment to be withdrawn (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/30).

Juan Martinez, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Medicaid office, declined to give details about the action taken against Keroack but said, "There is a pending matter pertaining to Dr. Keroack's status as a MassHealth provider, dating back several years" (Washington Post, 3/31).