Interview of Sandy Praeger and Kathleen Sebelius by Robert St. Peter, May 11, 2026

This interview of former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and former Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger is a conversation between two significan figures in the state's health policy. Guided by Robert St. Peter, the duo address a variety health policy issues. Sebelius and Praeger both saw the Kansas legislature's failure to expand Medicaid as one of the reasons for the state's slide in national health rankings and probably one of the contributing factors in making rural Kansas less healthy than urban areas. Both mentioned that Kansas policymakers didn't feel that health was a worthwhile investment so did not prioritize health policy improvements. Both pointed out that business leaders in the state don't usually see health as a priority the same way they did when they pushed for early childhood education. In their observation, the politics of health became more difficult after passage of the Affordable Care Act -- and more partisan. Sebelius believed that the Governor's office should be the place for championing various initiatives. A printable copy of the transcript of this interview can be downloaded from https://ksoralhistory.org. Sandy Praeger was elected three times to the Kansas State Senate -- 1992, 1996, and 2000 after serving one term (1991-1992) in the Kansas House of Representatives. Prior to serving in the Legislature, she was elected to the Lawrence City Commission, serving from 1985 to1989 with a term as Mayor of Lawrence (1986-1987). Following her service in the Legislature, Praeger was elected to the statewide office of Kansas Insurance Commissioner, serving three terms from 2003 to 2015. As Insurance Commissioner, Praeger was responsible for regulating all insurance sold in Kansas and overseeing the nearly 1,700 insurance companies and 110,000 agents licensed to do business in the state. Praeger is the former president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and has been its spokesperson in favor of maintaining state insurance regulation rather than an optional federal charter. Kathleen Sebelius served as Governor of Kansas from 2003 to 2009. She is the first daughter of a governor (her late father, John Gilligan, was Governor of Ohio) to be elected governor in American history. Prior to being elected governor of Kansas, Sebelius was elected to two terms as the Kansas Insurance Commissioner and four terms representing a Topeka district in the Kansas House of Representatives. From April 2009 through June 2014, Sebelius served in President Barack Obama’s Cabinet as the 21st Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, where she worked to pass and implement the Affordable Care Act. At HHS, Sebelius managed 11 operating agencies, 90,000 employees in 50 countries around the world, and a $1 trillion budget. Sebelius earned a master of public administration degree from the University of Kansas and a bachelor of arts degree from Trinity Washington University. At the time of this interview, Sebelius was CEO of Sebelius Resources LLC, providing strategic advice to companies, investors, and non-profit organizations; chaired the board of Humacyte and served on the boards of directors of Devoted Health, Included Health, KFF [Kaiser Family Foundation], and Project 50. She also co-chaired the Aspen Institute Health Strategy Group and serveed as the Kettering Foundation’s inaugural Democracy Fellow. Sebelius served on advisory boards for the Dole Institute of Politics, Out Leadership, and the Estée Lauder Foundation. This interview was conducted by the Kansas Oral History Project, Inc. (KOHP), a non-profit organization (501(c)(3)) that records, transcribes, and makes available to the public, oral histories of various aspects of life in Kansas. KOHP is supported by grants and donations, including grants from Humanities Kansas, Evergy, and ITC Great Plains. KOHP does not charge for non-commercial use of the oral histories it collects. Suggested citation: Praeger, Sandy and Kathleen Sebelius (May 11, 2026) interviewed by Robert St. Peter. Video file of an oral history interview conducted for the Kansas Oral History Project, Inc. Retrieved from    • Interview of Sandy Praeger and Kathleen Se...  . ***** The appearance of any advertisement on this channel does not constitute an endorsement of any product or service nor does it reflect any official position taken by the Kansas Oral History Project, Inc. Except where otherwise noted, The Kansas Oral History Collection © 2021 by Kansas Oral History Project, Inc. is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International. The recording, transcript, summary, and biographical sketch associated with this video may be used in accordance with this license. If you have questions about licensing the use of this material, contact us using our online form at https://ksoralhistory.org/contact/.