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Kathleen Sebelius’ Biggest Achievement Is The One No One Is Talking About
Kathleen Sebelius’ Biggest Achievement Is The One No One Is Talking About
By Igor Volsky
Kathleen Sebelius wasn’t President Obama’s first choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services and oversee the passage and implementation of health care reform. But after Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) dropped out, Obama tapped the two-term Kansas governor and former state insurance commissioner. Sebelius didn’t have much D.C. experience, but had an impressive track record of working across the aisle as a Democratic governor in a red state.
And while the united GOP opposition to health legislation eventually overwhelmed any goodwill Sebelius had built up within the Republican party and the rocky rollout of Obamacare has come to dominate the discussion of her tenure as secretary, that bipartisan quality proved essential to the implementation of the law. Sebelius leaves the office having enrolled some 10 million people in health care coverage. This was only possible because she convinced numerous Republican lawmakers in bright red states to extended health care coverage to the poorest Americans. No one is talking about it, but it is her biggest and most impressive achievement as secretary.
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s 2012 decision invalidating Obamacare’s compulsory Medicaid expansion, most Republican-controlled states refused to extend health care coverage to residents below 133 percent of the poverty line. But Sebelius traveled the country, urging Republican governors to reconsider. As of today, eight GOP-controlled states have approved expansion — in no small part because of the flexibility Sebelius and her team provided.
<...>
Last month, in an interview with USA Today, Sebelius predicted that all GOP-controlled legislatures will eventually expand Medicaid in their states, closing a coverage gap that has left 4.8 million poor Americans without coverage. “It not only would bring more people into the health care system, but it would dramatically reduce unpaid medical costs,” she said. If the states do comply, it will be in no small part because of the bipartisan legacy she left behind.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/04/10/3425593/sebelius-3/
By Igor Volsky
Kathleen Sebelius wasn’t President Obama’s first choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services and oversee the passage and implementation of health care reform. But after Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) dropped out, Obama tapped the two-term Kansas governor and former state insurance commissioner. Sebelius didn’t have much D.C. experience, but had an impressive track record of working across the aisle as a Democratic governor in a red state.
And while the united GOP opposition to health legislation eventually overwhelmed any goodwill Sebelius had built up within the Republican party and the rocky rollout of Obamacare has come to dominate the discussion of her tenure as secretary, that bipartisan quality proved essential to the implementation of the law. Sebelius leaves the office having enrolled some 10 million people in health care coverage. This was only possible because she convinced numerous Republican lawmakers in bright red states to extended health care coverage to the poorest Americans. No one is talking about it, but it is her biggest and most impressive achievement as secretary.
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s 2012 decision invalidating Obamacare’s compulsory Medicaid expansion, most Republican-controlled states refused to extend health care coverage to residents below 133 percent of the poverty line. But Sebelius traveled the country, urging Republican governors to reconsider. As of today, eight GOP-controlled states have approved expansion — in no small part because of the flexibility Sebelius and her team provided.
<...>
Last month, in an interview with USA Today, Sebelius predicted that all GOP-controlled legislatures will eventually expand Medicaid in their states, closing a coverage gap that has left 4.8 million poor Americans without coverage. “It not only would bring more people into the health care system, but it would dramatically reduce unpaid medical costs,” she said. If the states do comply, it will be in no small part because of the bipartisan legacy she left behind.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/04/10/3425593/sebelius-3/
Obamacare Headline in Rural Arkansas
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024798807
14 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
What!????!
Sebelius traveled the country, urging Republican governors to reconsider. As of today, eight GOP-controlled states have approved expansion — in no small part because of the flexibility Sebelius and her team provided.
Eight, you said eight GOP controlled states have approved expansion!!
This is great news! 
Thank you ProSense.
Thank You President Barack Hussein Obama!
Mrs Kathleen Sebelious and her work on the ACA was well appreciated you will be missed
