Even Kathleen Sebelius isn't going out of her way to defend Hillary Clinton. The former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services denied using private email while she served in the Obama administration.
Prominent Democrats have been lining up to rue the day when they went all in on the Affordable Care Act. First, Senator Charles “Chuck” Schumer said it was bad politics from the get-go. No votes in it. Then, Senator Harry Reid, who will be losing the title “majority leader” and the various…
Less than four weeks before the launch of 2015 open enrollment for Obamacare, the government agency that runs Healthcare.gov suddenly realized the Marketplace site was heading for a repeat of last year's debacle. Documents show that on October 19, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services…
The featured speaker at a recent conference on “Excellence in Government,” was the secretary of agriculture, Tom Vilsack.
Back when the Obama administration needed a little help selling the Affordable Care Act, (then) HHS Secretary Sebelius made a few calls. Friendly, no doubt, in tone, suggesting that a contribution might be helpful.
Kathleen Sebelius is "not considering" a run for Senate, a new report claims.
A couple of days ago, a Timothy P. Carney piece appeared in the Washington Examiner over the headline:
To begin on a positive note about the outgoing Secretary of Health and Human Services: Kathleen Sebelius was perfectly cordial the one time I met her.
At a celebration ceremony for Kathleen Sebelius's resignation as secretary of Health and Human Services, President Obama excused the problems with Healthcare.gov by saying it's the "final score" that matters:
Kathleen Sebelius had one final glitch on her way out the door. At her resignation celebtration at the White House Rose Garden today, she was missing the final page from her prepared remarks:
The first official word from the Obama administration on Kathleen Sebelius's resignation as secretary of health and human services is a retweet by the official White House Twitter account of a tweet by Vox.com's Ezra Klein:
A few weeks ago during a Congressional hearing, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told Congress regarding Obamacare, “We have implemented a number of changes in the way the law was written to ease the transition into the marketplace.” This week, her department has done the same…
An Oklahoma reporter told Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius how unpopular Obamacare is, rendering the cabinet secretary speechless:
Healthcare.gov has eliminated the web chat customer service option. Sometime around the beginning of March, the online chat feature that has been present since Healthcare.gov was launched disappeared. Although previous posts on the Healthcare.gov blog still refer to the "live chat" feature, the…
The Obama administration has been under heavy criticism from foes and even some friends for selective enforcement of laws. Executive orders and executive actions have contradicted, delayed, or otherwise modified laws regarding same-sex marriage, immigration, and, most controversial in the last…
Testifying Wednesday before the House Ways and Means hearing on the Health and Human Services (HHS) budget, Kathleen Sebelius was bombarded with questions about implementation of the Affordable Care Act. She was asked to provide details on the administration's claims about current enrollment…
With Obamacare, it seems like every day brings with it a new interpretation, ruling, finding, exemption, or what-have-you. This thing is more slippery than a basket of greased eels.
The headline from The Hill reads:
If you were concerned that the Affordable Care Act might add the the nation’s unemployment woes, as predicted by the Congressional Budget Office, then you might take heart from what a senior administration official is saying:
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius excused the sloppy Spanish-language Obamacare website after being asked about it by a Florida reporter:
Nearly two months after Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that her agency would create a new Chief Risk Officer (CRO) position to prevent a repeat of the Healthcare.gov debacle, the position is apparently still unfilled. HHS, however, has continued to solicit…
On a recent trip to Miami, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted that, yes, some people will be paying more for health insurance under Obamacare:
The headline on this Bloomberg piece catches a certain, robust and current, strain of thought in Washington.
Two days before Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius announced on December 11 that she was ordering a comprehensive investigation into the reasons behind the Obamacare launch debacle, HHS announced an upcoming Contracting with CMS Conference with topics such as "The Good,…
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius's agency announced grants of $58 million to 1,157 community health centers to allow them to "expand their enrollment assistance efforts as more Americans enroll in affordable health insurance coverage." These grants come on top of $150…
At a Capitol Hill hearing, Kathleen Sebelius admitted today that the Obama administration is 3 million short of its Obamacare goal:
Concerns have increased over the security of personal information collected by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as the volume of personal data has multiplied dramatically with the implementation of Obamacare. Security experts have testified before Congress about flaws they have…
The state of Oregon set up its own exchange to provide people with health care insurance that would not be “substandard.” And it has delivered … sort of. No “substandard” coverage has been sold on the site. Which is a good thing. But, then, no coverage at all has been sold over the site,…
Robert Gibbs wants to see somebody fired over the Obamacare breakdown. As a way of restoring public confidence, of course. If this were the public sector, after all, we’d be dodging the rolling heads anytime we crossed a street.
Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today that Obamacare navigators don't need to undergo criminal background checks:
Seems that:
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius opened up her testimony before the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee panel, saying:
Rep. Ralph Hall, a 90-year-old Republican from Texas, told Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that he thought he saw her riding a tricycle in Meade, Kansas when he was in the 3rd grade:
The first-time claims number comes in as … well, not so good. This is typical if not predictable. As Reuters reports:
Former White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says that it's "unbelievable" to think that the Health and Human Services Department didn't realize that the Obamacare website was messed up:
The Obamacare rollout is going about as well as the introduction of New Coke or the merger of Time and AOL or … take your pick. Just how bad is it? Well, the administration won't tell. Just doesn't, it appears, want to talk about it.
CNN reported last night that HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius will make time to attend a gala in Boston, but is too busy to testify on Capitol Hill about Obamacare:
Healthcare.gov, the federal government's Obamacare website, has been under heavy criticism from friend and foe alike during its first two weeks of open enrollment. Repeated errors and delays have prevented many users from even establishing an account, and outside web designers have roundly panned…
Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs blasted the roll-out of Obamacare today on MSNBC:
The launch of federal government's Obamacare insurance exchange, Healthcare.gov, has been plagued with delays, errors, and poor website design, even prompting USA Today to call it an "inexcusable mess" and a "nightmare". Now comes another example of why the website's reputation is in tatters.…
It was a fitting match, yesterday, in Pittsburgh. Kathleen Sebelius and her failing health care plan and the struggling Pittsburgh Steelers, whose coach has resorted to desperate measures such as banning:
Sam Cappellanti of the American Action Forum claims that the Department of Health and Human Services is using "faulty" data to mislead on Obamacare.
Tuesday morning, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius announced on Twitter:
The White House released a photo of President Obama in the Situation Room on Wednesday with Kathleen Sebelius and other officials and advisors participating in a videoconference on Obamacare.
As questions remain about the security of the Federal Services Data Hub to be used in conjunction with the Obamacare marketplaces beginning October 1, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has agreed to a settlement with the not-for-profit Affinity Health Plans, Inc., for the company's…
The problems keep stacking up for the partial implementation of Obamacare on October 1. The Wall Street Journal reports this week that the Department of Health and Human Services has cut back on the number of training hours required for the Obamacare "navigators," federal workers who under the…
The Department of Health and Human Services is beginning a public effort to educate and train Americans about health insurance ahead of the implementation of parts of Obamacare this fall. USA Today reports that HHS and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius have launched a new website and videos (including…
As Obamacare was being pushed through Congress in 2010, the Obama administration and its allies were unequivocal in two claims: If you like your doctor and you like your current health care plan, you can keep them both. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius and then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi backed the…
The two top Republican senators, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and John Cornyn of Texas, have written letters to six professional sports organizations, warning them not to work with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to promote Obamacare. The letters were addressed to the top…
College football fans may soon have another thing to lord over the NFL. The Hill writes, “Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday she is in talks with the NFL to help promote new insurance options under ObamaCare.” The report continues, “Sebelius said the football league…
As the IRS scandal grows, the Department of Health and Human Services today published a blog post titled "Health Datapalooza IV Tops Off a Huge Year in Data Liberation":
During Tuesday’s hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D., Calif.) declared that failing to encourage people to sign up for government-mandated health insurance is downright “un-American.” Speier was referring to Congress’s refusal to fund…
White House spokesman Jay Carney said that questions about Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius for Obamacare fundraising are similar to questions about President Obama's birth certificate:
The more the evidence emerges, the more one has to wonder: Could Obamacare have been designed any more poorly? Even those who don’t mind Obamacare’s striking consolidation of power and money in Washington at the expense of Americans’ liberty, or who don’t mind the medical overhaul’s $2 trillion…
From the federal overhaul of American medicine that brought us the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisiana Purchase, and Gator Aid, we can now add the Sebelius Shakedown. In what it calls an “unusual fundraising push,” the Washington Post writes, “Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius…
Here's video of Democratic senator Max Baucus saying Obamacare implementation is heading for a "huge train wreck":
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius did not expect it to be this tough, according to the Hill's Justin Sink:
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted that Obamacare might cause "some men and younger customers [to] see their rates increase," in regard to health care insurance costs. But the White House refused today to address Sebelius's comments, and would only insist that health…
Earlier this week, a listing entitled "Parking Spaces at Democracy Blvd." appeared on the Federal Business Opportunities website. The contract was awarded on February 19th before the sequester took effect, but the timing could still prove embarrassing for the Obama administration.
Much of Obamacare wasn’t passed as fixed law but rather as an open-ended invitation for the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make law, our constitutional separation of powers notwithstanding. That’s how the requirement came about that essentially all health plans must hereafter give…
Joe Biden will head down to Richmond, Virginia on Friday to give a "gun safety" roundtable discussion. The vice president will be accompanied by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius will join the ongoing talks on gun control taking place at the White House. Vice President Joe Biden's schedule indicates she'll be joining him, as well as Attorney General Eric Holder, later today.
Early this morning, the Hill reported that the Obama administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is relying on a private company — a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group — to play a central role in establishing and running Obamacare’s insurance “exchanges.” As the Hill writes, the…
As Bloomberg reported in September of last year, "Sixty percent of employers said they offered medical benefits this year, a decrease from 69 percent in 2010." Yet today, in testimony on Capitol Hill, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that Obamacare is not the reason…
Republicans have been critical of the Obama administration's "preventive care" regulation, both before and after its (meaningless) modification Friday. But have our elected leaders and our candidates made the fundamental point? This regulation isn't some kind of weird bug in the software of…
We all know there is no such thing as a free lunch, but the Obama administration has decided to move forward with its mandate that private insurance companies must provide "free" coverage of contraception and sterilization procedures, as well as an abortion pill called "ella"--which is much…
In South Carolina earlier today, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said "that America’s health is a matter of national security and that she’s optimistic the Supreme Court will uphold the nation’s health care reform law," the Associated Press reports.
If you type “Obamacare” into Google and then click on the first link that usually comes up, you’ll learn all about Obamacare from the most unbiased source imaginable—the Obama administration. The link will take you to healthcare.gov, where you’ll learn that Obamacare is all about “bringing down…
While most Americans were fixated on the debt ceiling debate, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius took the opportunity on Monday to decree that, under Obamacare, all Americans will hereby be required to pay for other people’s birth control pills and morning-after pills — including…
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius defended the Independent Patient Advisory Board (IPAB) and attempted to redirect focus from IPAB to the House GOP’s proposed Medicare reforms at a House hearing this morning on Capitol Hill.
Here are two clips from yesterday’s House Budget Committee hearing on Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). In the first, Chairman Paul Ryan asks Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about her views on competition and choice:
Downplaying the role of the controversial Independent Patient Advisory Board (IPAB), Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today that the Affordable Care Act “leaves all final decisions” on changing Medicare payment costs in the hands of Congress. “IPAB is a backstop, a…
While Americans’ support for the repeal of Obamacare remains unwavering, the Obama administration continues to push the implementation of its highly unpopular overhaul. The administration is trying to coax states into implementing Obamacare’s government-run “exchanges” — with some success. But…
In the wake of rising Democratic — and universal Republican — opposition to Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will appear on Capitol Hill this morning to testify before the House Budget Committee, chaired by Paul Ryan. IPAB,…
President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), headed by Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, has now granted Obamacare waivers to the entire states of Nevada and New Hampshire. In its letter to Nevada, HHS admits that, without the waiver, “there is a reasonable likelihood” that Obamacare…
Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama’s secretary of Health and Human Services, lowered the bar of political discourse still further yesterday. Sebelius said that, under the proposed Medicare reforms authored by Paul Ryan and passed overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives, many seniors would…
Mark Halperin: "Five Mistakes the Obama Administration Has Made in the Aftermath of Bin Laden Killing"
The Wall Street Journal editorializes on the latest activities of Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama’s secretary of Health and Human Services. Sebelius has decided effectively to tell the elderly CEO of Forest Labs to get a new job. The Journal's editors write:
Kathleen Sebelius, the Obama administration’s secretary of Health and Human Services and hence the administration’s highest-ranking health care official, has this to say about American medicine: “our outcomes look like we’re in a developing country.” In marked contrast, most of her fellow citizens…
In a recent call with liberal college groups (at 6:14 on the podcast), Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, regarding Obamacare: “Now, it’s really disappointing that some in Congress are still trying to repeal the law and argue the results of the last two years.” Hmm. Well,…
Politico reports that the Obama administration’s pro-Obamacare Andy Griffith TV ad cost taxpayers $3.66 million, according to records obtained from the Department of Health and Human Services. Actually, there were at least three such ads (here, here, and here), so it’s not clear whether this was…
For the first time since the passage of Obamacare last March, the Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that most Americans (51 percent) “strongly” favor Obamacare’s repeal, while fewer than a quarter (24 percent) “strongly” oppose it. Eighty percent of Republicans “strongly” favor repeal, while…
President Obama’s Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius professes to have acquired a newfound concern for Medicare Advantage, the popular program from which the Obama administration would loot more than a quarter of a trillion dollars during Obamacare’s real first decade (2014 to…
The Hill reports that Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius added another 126 Obamacare waivers on Friday, bringing the tally to over 1,000 in the less than 12 months since Obamacare’s passage. Ed Morrissey aptly writes, “That’s one of the fundamental dangers of Obamacare. It’s…
If you type “Obamacare” into a search engine — whether Google, Bing, or Ask — you’ll find that the first site that appears at the top of the page is healthcare.gov. That site will tell you everything you want to know — or, rather, everything the Obama administration wants you to know (and nothing…
The brazenness of the Obama administration never ceases to amaze. Try typing "Obamacare" into Google, and you'll find that the first entry is now the Obama administration's www.healthcare.gov. If you don't particularly like that result, you'll probably hate the fact that you're paying for it.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a 347-page, 118,072-word Obamacare "rule" released by Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius and unconfirmed-Medicare Administrator Donald Berwick, two people whose power would increase immensely under Obamacare. I wrote, "To get a real flavor for…
As we ring in the New Year, the Wall Street Journal reports, "The Credit Card Act signed into law last year [in 2009] was supposed to stop financial institutions from sleazy antics. But, instead, some retailers say, it may restrict stay-at-home moms."
Not satisfied with the colossal amounts of power that she would acquire under Obamacare if it isn't repealed, Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Kathleen Sebelius has issued a 136-page "rule" that will now give her (and her subordinates) largely unchecked power to pass judgment on the prices…
First, there was the creepy, nonfactual healthcare.gov video. Then HHS Secretary Sebelius announced, "we have a lot of reeducation to do" on the national health care law--and spent $3 million in taxpayer money on TV ads featuring Andy Griffith selling Obamacare. Now, they're taking over the…