Bredesen: No meetings scheduled with Obama for possible Cabinet job

WASHINGTON — Gov. Phil Bredesen, reportedly being considered by President Barack Obama for U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, laid out his vision for universal health care in a speech Friday at Georgetown University.

But he told reporters afterward that he is not scheduled to meet with the president or his staff this weekend to discuss the vacancy and downplayed his chances of being nominated.

“I’m honored to be on someone’s short list, (but) I think I’m an unlikely choice,” said Gov. Bredesen, who will be attending the National Governors Association conference here Sunday and Monday.

He referred all questions to the White House on whether he has been vetted for the secretary post.

A message left with the White House media office was not returned.

Gov. Bredesen said he would approve of the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, whom some media outlets have reported is the front-runner for the Health and Human Services secretary post.

“As a fellow Democratic governor in a conservative state, we share a lot of the same values,” he said.

During his speech, Gov. Bredesen said a universal health care system should be egalitarian so everyone can have access to benefits, similar to how Social Security is available to all Americans.

He also said health care providers should be rated on their performance by a standardized set of criteria, with the evaluations made public so consumers have more transparency in choosing their doctors and hospitals.

The Obama presidency is the transformative opportunity of a lifetime to reform the health care system, he said.

“It’ll be a legacy issue for Obama,” he said.

On the economic stimulus package, Gov. Bredesen said he welcomes the infusion of federal dollars to the state, but acknowledged that the money “comes with a bunch of restrictions.”

Tennessee will get an estimated $4.3 billion over the next two years from the package, some of which will be used to help support the state budget, he said.

He rejected calls from some Republican state lawmakers to turn down the federal money. Critics have called the package wasteful spending.

“My feeling about it is, I don’t need every dime of it, but this money is coming from Tennesseans,” Gov. Bredesen said. “I’m happy to have our fair share.”