Sebelius Stands Tall Against Insurers

Instead of attacking the president's proposal, Ms. Sebelius said, insurers should use their assets, their influence and their bully pulpit to win approval for the legislation in Congress. <...>

Ms. Sebelius complained that "over the last year, we have seen tens of millions of dollars, by the insurance industry, spent on ads and lobbyists to help kill health reform.''

The secretary said she could not understand such efforts, because Mr. Obama was not trying to "eliminate the private insurance market and go to some kind of single-payer system like Europe or Canada.'' Indeed, the president's proposal would provide hundreds of billions of dollars in tax credits to help moderate-income people buy private health insurance.

Ms. Sebelius, a former governor and insurance commissioner in Kansas, sounded exasperated at the pace of change. "How many years in a row can we have the same discussion over and over?'' Ms. Sebelius asked. "How many years can we look at a marketplace which is getting more segmented and more difficult? How much pressure can be put on the remaining customers before the business model collapses of its own weight?''