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Tag: sylvia mathews burwell
Obama Health Nominee Wins Bipartisan Support

Obama Health Nominee Wins Bipartisan Support

Noam N. Levey, Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s pick to assume oversight of his signature health law received added bipartisan support Wednesday as more Republicans joined Democrats backing her nomination for secretary of health and human services.

The growing support all but guarantees that Sylvia Mathews Burwell will be confirmed easily by the Senate to succeed Kathleen Sebelius, who has guided implementation of the Affordable Care Act for the past four years.

On Wednesday one of the Senate’s most conservative members, Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, introduced Burwell before her testimony in front of the Senate Finance Committee, praising her as a competent, common-sense leader whom he said he would vote for on the Senate floor.

Last week, Burwell garnered support from Republican senators John McCain of Arizona and Richard Burr of North Carolina.

Burwell’s hearing also signaled an unusual reserve by GOP lawmakers, who in recent years have used almost every opportunity to attack the health law and push for its repeal.

Though committee Republicans kept up criticism of the law, several asked more measured questions about specific fixes for the legislation, rather than renewing their calls for full-scale repeal.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the senior Republican on the committee, called on Burwell to strengthen state insurance marketplaces created by the health law, several of which struggled in their first year.

Sen. Michael Crapo, R-Idaho, expressed interest in working with Burwell to protect seniors’ access to private Medicare plans, which the law aims to streamline by reducing government subsidies for the insurance companies that offer them.

Burwell, a West Virginia native and the daughter of an optometrist, currently serves as head of the White House Office of Management and Budget, one of the most powerful positions in most administrations.

Burwell is a veteran of the Clinton White House, where she was deputy director of the budget office.

After leaving the federal government, she worked for a decade at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, part of the time as its chief operating officer. Most recently, she headed the Walmart Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Lauded by Democrats and Republicans for her experience in and out of Washington, she was unanimously confirmed last year for the budget post.

Few believe Burwell’s confirmation as health secretary will end the political fighting over the Affordable Care Act. While the Finance Committee was considering her nomination, other GOP lawmakers kept up their attacks on the law on the Senate floor.

And at the Finance Committee hearing Wednesday, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, delivered a warning to Burwell that congressional Republicans remained very concerned about how the Obama administration had implemented the law.

“You are going to have to be willing to break the whatever-means-necessary mind-set,” he said.

The committee must vote on Burwell’s nomination before it reaches the floor. Changes in the filibuster rules will allow Democrats to confirm her with a simple majority, eliminating the need for Republican votes.

AFP Photo/Karen Bleier

Obama’s Pick To Head Health And Human Services Draws GOP Support

Obama’s Pick To Head Health And Human Services Draws GOP Support

By Noam N. Levey, Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s pick to take over the administration of his signature health law drew support Thursday from several Republicans in her first appearance before a congressional committee, signaling her likely confirmation to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Regardless of my objections to Obamacare, the Department of Health and Human Services needs competent leadership,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told the Senate health committee in introducing Sylvia Mathews Burwell. “I believe Ms. Burwell has the qualifications.”

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., told his colleagues he, too, would support Burwell. “I look forward to her confirmation being quick,” he said.

Obama tapped Burwell in April to replace Kathleen Sebelius, who has led the Department of Health and Human Services since 2009 and helped guide the rocky implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

A West Virginia native and the daughter of an optometrist, Burwell currently serves as head of the White House Office of Management and Budget, one of the most powerful positions in most administrations.

Burwell is a veteran of the Clinton White House, where she was deputy director of the budget office.

After leaving the federal government, she worked for a decade at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, part of the time as its chief operating officer. Most recently, she headed the Walmart Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Praised by Democrats and Republicans for her experience in and out of Washington, she was unanimously confirmed last year for the budget post.

Few believe her confirmation as health secretary will be as smooth, as Republicans continue to fight implementation of the health law four years after Obama signed it.

Thursday, Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the senior Republican on the health committee, kept up the attacks, pressing Burwell about loosening requirements on health insurers to reduce costs and giving states more flexibility to reshape their state Medicaid plans.

“Republicans want to repair the damage Obamacare has done,” Alexander said.

Burwell said she would consider the suggestions, but cautioned that weakening protections in the law could hurt consumers. “Flexibility is important,” she said. “Principles are important.”

Burwell next faces a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee before her nomination can be considered by the full Senate.

Changes in the filibuster rules will allow Democrats to confirm her with a simple majority, eliminating the need for Republican votes.

Rodger Mallison/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT

Sebelius, On Her Way Out, Praises Health-Care Law

Sebelius, On Her Way Out, Praises Health-Care Law

By David G. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday that health insurance exchanges that are now up and running across the country have given uninsured Americans a true choice of insurance plans with price comparisons.

“People have competitive choices and real information for the first time ever in this insurance market,” Sebelius said on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”

Before, she said, “individuals were really on their own” if they did not have insurance through an employer or the government. “If you were healthy and wealthy, you could get coverage,” she said, but not so if you were sick or struggling economically.

Sebelius, who resigned last week, conceded that her department had botched the rollout of the insurance exchanges at the beginning of October.

“If I had a magic wand, I’d go back to mid-September” and ask more probing questions, she said. “I thought I was getting the best information from the best experts,” but their confident prediction that the system was ready to go “was just flat-out wrong,” she said.

She described the following eight weeks as “a pretty dismal time” and the low point of her tenure as HHS chief. However, the computer glitches that plagued the program’s launch were subsequently resolved for the most part and enrollment numbers were up by December.

Sebelius said she decided early this year that the completion of the first open-enrollment cycle for the program was the best time for her to step down. She said she did not want to stay in the job until January 2017, when President Barack Obama’s second term will end, so the best option was to “leave with enough time that he would get a strong, competent leader” to head the department.

Obama last week nominated his White House budget director, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, to replace Sebelius.

AFP Photo/Joe Raedle