Physician groups hopeful on health care reform.(NEWS)

Early signals from the Obama administration have many physicians feeling optimistic about the chances for comprehensive health care reform.

The economy is one reason that health care reform may have a greater chance for success now than it did during the Clinton administration, said Dr. Nancy H. Nielsen, president of the American Medical Association (AMA).

As more Americans lose their jobs, they are also losing their health insurance, she said, driving policy makers to address the issue of the uninsured. "There may be more tension for change now than there has been in the past," she noted.

President Barack Obama addressed that tension head-on during the December press conference in which he announced former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) as his choice for Health and Human Services secretary.

The state of health care in the United States--with rising premiums and the large number of uninsured Americans--is having a direct and negative impact on the U.S. economy, President Obama said. "If we want to overcome our economic challenges, we must also finally address our health care challenge."

In a move that many agree signals how serious Mr. Obama is about health reform, he tapped Sen. Daschle for not one, but two, posts.

In addition to serving as HHS secretary, Sen. Daschle is slated to serve as director for a new White House Office on Health Care Reform. Jeanne M. Lambrew, Ph.D., a health policy expert who coauthored the health care book "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis" with Sen. Daschle, was chosen as deputy director of ...