Burwell HHS Hearings Give Republicans Obamacare Opening
Republican lawmakers said hearings on Sylvia Mathews Burwells nomination as U.S. Health and Human Services secretary provide a fresh opening to raise questions about President Barack Obamas health-care law.
Obamas choice of Burwell, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to succeed Kathleen Sebelius will elevate some of the concerns that Republicans have about Obamacare, Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said on CBSs Face the Nation program.
After initial stumbles, the program known as Obamacare beat initial forecasts as the first open enrollment period ended on March 31. About 7.5 million people signed up for private health insurance through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care, Sebelius told a Senate hearing on April 10, hours before her resignation was announced.
Sebelius said she decided to leave after feeling optimistic the administration would meet its enrollment goal and recover from a terribly flawed and terribly difficult launch of its health-care website last fall. In an interview broadcast today on NBCs Meet the Press program, she said she wasnt forced out.
Republican lawmakers said they want details on how many enrollees have paid for their plans, the age composition of the enrollees and how that will influence insurers decisions to raise prices next year.
Sylvia Mathews Burwell, currently the director of the Office of Management and Budget, right, is U.S. President Barack Obama's choice to be his next secretary of Health and Human Services. Close
Sylvia Mathews Burwell, currently the director of the Office of Management and Budget,... Read More
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Sylvia Mathews Burwell, currently the director of the Office of Management and Budget, right, is U.S. President Barack Obama's choice to be his next secretary of Health and Human Services.
Lawmakers should use Burwells confirmation hearings to figure out first and foremost who actually has benefited from the so-called success of Obamacare and its rollout, Senator Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican who sits on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said on Fox News Sunday.
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Burwell HHS Hearings Give Republicans Obamacare Opening