Biden Sizing Up State Leaders for Critical Health-Care Posts (1)

President-elect Joe Biden’s health team is shaping up as a competition largely between Obama administration alumni who stayed in Washington and those who joined state health agencies.

Biden, who made fighting the coronavirus and expanding health care top campaign priorities, faces a steep climb for central parts of his agenda, including expanding the Affordable Care Act’s insurance subsidies and creating government-run insurance. Democrats’ majority has been narrowed in the House and control of the Senate remains undecided.

The new president will use his executive powers and lean heavily on the Department of Health and Human Services to achieve his goals ...