Oral history interview with Kathy J. Greenlee, 2022
Abstract
Kathy J. Greenlee reflects on her work in the Obama administration, in which she served as assistant secretary for aging at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from 2009 to 2016, and as the first administrator of the Administration for Community Living (ACL), which was formed in 2012. Greenlee outlines the range of issues important to elderly Americans during the years of the Obama pr esidency, and provides details about notable policy areas and initiatives with which she was closely involved, including relevant provisions of the Affordable Care Act; funding for prevention in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; the founding and operations of the Administration for Community Living; care work and the U.S. labor force; ageism and ableism; food insecurity among seniors; the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act; elder abuse and elder justice; and efforts focused on Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Greenlee also recounts her involvement with LGBT activism, and describes the work of the HHS LGBT Issues Coordinating Council, which was stood-up following Obama's April 2010 presidential memorandum on hospital visitation rights for gay and lesbian couples. Also discussed are Greenlee's listening sessions with seniors around the country, stakeholder communications during the H1N1 pandemic, and Greenlee's long relationship with Kathleen Sebelius
Presidents--United States; Ageism--United States; Older people--Abuse of--United States; Greenlee, Kathy; Obama, Barack; Sebelius, Kathleen, 1948-; United States; United States. Department of Health and Human Services; United States. Administration for Community Living; Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2016; American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
73 pages
Note (Biographical)
Kathy J. Greenlee served as assistant secretary for aging at the United States Department of Health and Human Services from 2009 to 2016. In addition, Greenlee was the first administrator of the Administration for Community Living. Prior to her servic e in the Obama administration, Greenlee served in a variety of positions in Kansas state government, including general counsel of the Kansas Insurance Department; chief of staff and chief of operations for Governor Kathleen Sebelius; assistant secretary of aging; state long-term care ombudsman; and secretary of aging. In 2018, she launched a consulting business, Greenlee Global, LLC, to pursue aging-related projects regionally, nationally, and internationally. At the time of the interview, she serves as chair on the board of directors for the National Council on Aging
Note
Interviewed by Dov Weinryb Grohsgal on April 5, 2022. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Kathy J. Greenlee, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023