Kathleen Sebelius: Good Luck In Your Future Endeavors

[Dino Velvet]

What do you guys think? Is this a good thing? Any supporters feeling she was scapegoated? Have we gotten accurate ObamaCare numbers of who actually paid and the number of people now insured who had no insurance before? Once we get to the truth of the matter hopefully things can be fixed to benefit us all. We're all Americans.

http://news.yahoo.com/kathleen-sebel...-politics.html

Kathleen Sebelius resigning from top HHS post

By JULIE PACE 21 hours ago


WASHINGTON (AP) — Embattled Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is resigning as the White House seeks to move past the election-year political damage inflicted by the rocky rollout of President Barack Obama's signature health care law.
Sebelius' resignation comes just over a week after sign-ups closed for the first year of insurance coverage under the so-called Obamacare law. The opening weeks of the enrollment period were marred by widespread website woes, though the administration rebounded strongly by enrolling 7.1 million people by the March 31 deadline, exceeding initial expectations. Enrollment has since risen to 7.5 million as people were given extra time to complete applications.
Even with the late surge in sign-ups, the law remains unpopular with many Americans and Republicans have made it a centerpiece of their efforts to retake the Senate in the fall.
Sebelius' resignation could also set the stage for a contentious confirmation hearing to replace her. In a sign that the White House is seeking to avoid a nomination fight, the president was tapping Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to replace Sebelius. Burwell was unanimously confirmed by the Senate for her current post.
A White House official requested anonymity to confirm Sebelius' resignation and Burwell's nomination ahead of the formal announcement. Obama has not nominated anyone to replace Burwell as budget director.
Obama remained publicly supportive of Sebelius throughout the rough rollout, deflecting Republican calls for her resignation. But she was conspicuously not standing by his side last week when he heralded the sign-up surge during an event in the White House Rose Garden.
The official said the 65-year-old Sebelius approached Obama last month about stepping down, telling him that the sign-up deadline was a good opportunity for a transition and suggesting he would be better served by someone who was less of a political target.
A spokeswoman for Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican from Sebelius' home state of Kansas, called the resignation "a prudent decision" given what she called the total failure of Obamacare implementation.
Sebelius dropped no hints about her resignation Thursday when she testified at a budget hearing. Instead, she received congratulations from Democratic senators on the sign-up surge.
A popular former governor of Kansas, Sebelius has been one of Obama's longest-serving Cabinet officials and his only HHS secretary. She was instrumental in shepherding the health care law through Congress in 2010 and implementing its initial components, including a popular provision that allows young people to stay on their parents' insurance plans until age 26.
But Sebelius' relationship with the White House frayed during the fall rollout of the insurance exchanges that are at the center of the sweeping overhaul. The president and his top advisers appeared caught off guard by the extent of the website woes, with warnings from those working on the technology never making it to the West Wing.
After technical problems crippled online sign-ups after the Oct. 1 launch, the White House sent management expert and longtime Obama adviser Jeffrey Zients to oversee a rescue operation that turned things around by the end of November. After taking helm of the project, Zients said management issues were partly to blame but did not point the finger at any individuals.
Sebelius took personal responsibility for the chaotic launch of the website and asked the HHS inspector general to conduct an investigation. That report is not expected for months.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a staunch supporter of the health care law, praised Sebelius as a "forceful, effective and essential" secretary.
"Secretary Sebelius was a leader in the long effort to make history for our country with passage of the Affordable Care Act," the California Democrat said in a statement.
In nominating the 48-year-old Burwell, Obama is tapping a Washington veteran with a low-profile and the respect of some Republicans on Capitol Hill. Though she only joined the Obama administration last year, Burwell held several White House and Treasury posts during President Bill Clinton's administration.
Between her stints in the executive branch, Burwell served as president of Wal-Mart's charitable arm and head of the global development program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
If confirmed, Burwell will have to contend with huge challenges related to the continued implementation of the health overhaul, as well as the divisive politics surrounding the law that show no sign of abating.
On the practical side, the administration has to improve customer service for millions of Americans trying to navigate the new system. There's also a concern that premiums may rise for 2015, since many younger, healthier people appear to have sat out open enrollment season.
On the political front, congressional Republicans remain implacably opposed to Obamacare, even as several GOP governors have accepted the law's expansion of safety-net coverage under Medicaid. GOP opposition means Republicans can be expected to continue to deny additional funds for implementation.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell., R-Ky., welcomed Sebelius' resignation but appeared to indicate an openness to a dialogue with Burwell, the new HHS nominee — even as he declared that "Obamacare has to go."
"I hope this is the start of a candid conversation about Obamacare's shortcomings and the need to protect Medicare," McConnell said.
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Associated Press writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Erica Werner in Washington, and John Hanna in Topeka, Kan., contributed to this report.
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Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

[Ben]

Kathleen Sebelius Performs One Final Act Of Incompetence:

[95racer]

Incompetent fuck!! But what else would you expect from government. Actually this is probably resume enhancement. She'll show up at a higher level position somewhere else in DC.

[Dino Velvet]

But what else would you expect from government.

Not too much but basically to hold onto their jobs and/or getting better ones lining their pockets with money as they go along. Every few years they pass out a few pats on the head to make people think they really care about them.

[buttslinger]

There are already pics of her replacement on the net, Sylvia Mathews Burwell,
let's see if she gets through.

[Stavros]

Is she personally to blame or is she taking the rap for the failures of her department? Should the person at the top carry the can or insist on staying to make the department more efficient?

[trish]

The "failures" were pretty limited. Yes, in the States that refused the Medicare extension, coverage for middle class and poorer citizens isn't as good or as cheap as it could be. And yes, because conservative States stalled and waited until the very last minute to set up their exchanges, it was difficult to design and set up a compatible Federal sign-up within the short window of time. That's the problem you face when you insist on a system based on private insurers housed in fifty different States. But the website couldn't have been as poorly designed as some would lead us to believe, because it was up and running only a month after the initial bottleneck. The program is now on schedule. As of last week over 7 million people have signed up__a goal conservatives told us we couldn't possibly reach by this time.

I think Sebelius did a hell of a job (and not at all comparable to the job Mike Brown did after Katrina) getting this huge program up and running given all the resistance by Koch addicted governors and the associated stooges and loonies. In spite of this, millions of uninsured Americans are now covered. No longer can you not get coverage because you've been dropped by one company for "technical" reasons and you now have a pre-existing condition. Thank you Kathleen Sebelius. I am sad to see you go.

[Dino Velvet]

As of last week over 7 million people have signed up

But, out of 7.1 million, have we gotten accurate numbers of the percentage who actually paid? How many of those people had no insurance before? When someone signs up are they covered?

[Dino Velvet]

There are already pics of her replacement on the net, Sylvia Mathews Burwell,
let's see if she gets through.

Nice camel toe on the new HHS lady. Thanks Buttslinger.

[buttslinger]

Republicans think the poor are getting a free ride,
Democrats think big business is getting a free ride.

When, or if, Obamacare works, the welfare surfers, and the healthcare leeches are going to move from behind the plow to in front of the plow, and start pulling with the 9 to 5ers.

The wagon behind the plow is full of national debt, and necessary supplies, only the truly sick should get a ride.

The computer age is here, it's time to flick on the light and get organized.