Eric Keroack is OUT!!! Big cheer!

Daily Women's Health Policy

Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs Keroack Resigns Because of Unspecified Action Against His Private Medical Practice
[Mar 30, 2007]

Deputy Assistant Secretary for HHS' Office of Population Affairs Eric Keroack on Thursday announced that he will resign from the post due to an unspecified action taken against his private medical practice in Massachusetts by state Medicaid officials, the Washington Post reports (Lee, Washington Post, 3/30). 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seven Democratic members of the House in November 2006 sent letters to Leavitt calling for Keroack's appointment to be withdrawn (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 11/22/06).

An unnamed HHS spokesperson would not specify what action had been taken by Massachusetts Medicaid officials, adding, "We've said all we feel comfortable saying." Keroack on Thursday in an e-mail to colleagues said he "became aware" of the action taken by the Massachusetts Office of Medicaid and had initiated an appeals process, adding that the "appeals process will present a significant distraction to my ability to remain focused on my duties" (CQ HealthBeat, 3/29). Keroack said he met with HHS officials on Wednesday to discuss the action taken against him and to offer his resignation, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. HHS Assistant Secretary for Health John Agwunobi in a statement said he accepted Keroack's resignation as "a result of this action" (Freking, AP/Houston Chronicle, 3/29). Agwunobi added that the agency "will move forward as expeditiously as possible to fill this position" (CQ HealthBeat, 3/29).

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in a statement said Keroack was "unqualified to run" the Office of Population Affairs and called on the Bush administration to appoint as a replacement a "legitimate, mainstream public health expert who supports family planning and access to birth control" (Reuters, 3/30). Massachusetts Medicaid officials were not available for comment, the AP/Chronicle reports (AP/Houston Chronicle, 3/29).