White House staff changes will tighten circle of health policy insiders

Politico Pro: W.H. Changes Will Tighten Obama's Health Policy Circle
With President Barack Obama's reshuffling of White House personnel this week, the already small circle of administration officials driving the health policy has gotten even smaller and closer to the president - and to each other. That means most of the important health care policy decisions will continue to be primarily driven by two people: Nancy-Ann DeParle, deputy White House chief of staff, and Jeanne Lambrew, deputy assistant to the president for health policy. They'll have an even closer relationship with the new White House chief of staff, Jack Lew, who brings substantial health expertise of his own to the table (Feder, 1/11).