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Kansas City, MO – Kansas will likely lose another state leader to the Obama Administration. KCUR's Elana Gordon has more.
President Obama has tapped Kathy Greenlee to be the nation's next Assistant Secretary for the Administration on Aging. Greenlee is currently the Secretary of Aging in Kansas. Craig Kaberline is Executive Director of the Kansas Area Agencies on Aging Association. He says Greenlee's been a driving force in expanding seniors' access to dental care, and that she's brought an overall higher profile to issues affecting seniors in the state.
KABERLINE: "It's discussed much more at the legislative and other levels that it really didn't get before, at a time in which our aging population is really growing significantly."
Greenlee also served as general consul to Kathleen Sebelius back when Sebelius headed the state's insurance department. Sebelius recently stepped down as Governor of Kansas to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS. If confirmed, Greenlee would manage an agency that's within HHS. Her nomination to the federal post still requires senate approval, but hearings have yet to be scheduled.
Funding for health care coverage on KCUR has been provided by the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City.
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