U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said today she is more optimistic than ever that the new health reform law will withstand Republican efforts to repeal or weaken it.
“This is the debate that has been underway since the president proposed these sweeping reforms,” Sebelius said. “I am actually feeling more optimistic now than I was during the debate to pass the bill in the first place because what’s happening across the country is people are beginning to see how the health reform law benefits them and their families.”
Sebelius’ comments came during a conference call with news reporters ahead of tomorrow’s reconvening of Congress. House Republicans announced yesterday they would hold a Jan. 12 vote to repeal the reform law.
But to repeal the law, Sebelius, said Republicans would have to take away benefits people have already begun to enjoy. The former Kansas governor used her home state as an example of some of those benefits.
“If repeal were to succeed, nearly 1.5 million Kansans would be back at risk of losing their benefits when the worst abuses of insurance companies became legal again,” Sebelius said.
Repealing the law, she said, would allow insurance companies “to once again deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, cancel coverage when people get sick and place limits on the amount of care people can get, even if they need it.”
Among the other benefits to Kansans under the new law listed by Sebelius:
- 16,800 more Kansans under the age of 26 now have coverage under their parents’ health plans.
- 30,186 Kansas Medicare beneficiaries received a one-time, tax-free, $250 rebate to help pay for prescription drugs in the “donut hole” coverage gap in 2010. This year those in the coverage gap are eligible for 50 percent discounts on covered brand name prescription drugs.
- 50 Kansas businesses and unions were able to maintain coverage for early retirees
- Many Kansas businesses have been able to extend or offer new coverage to employees thanks to a new small business tax credit.
“One example of how well the (tax credit) is working is the actions taken by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, who’s already enrolled more than 9,000 new members covered by 400 new employers — more than a third of whom didn’t previously have coverage,” Sebelius said.
“Repeal across the country would take tax credits away from almost 4 million small business owners. So what’s happening in Kansas we can see replicated across the country,” she said.
Kansas Governor-elect Sam Brownback, a Republican who voted against the health reform law as a member of the U.S. Senate, has promised to work against its implementation as the state’s chief executive. But recently, Republican Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger said the incoming administration had given her the green light to continue planning for the purchasing exchange.
Some 20 court cases are moving through the judicial system arguing that reform — particularly the mandate that everyone have health insurance or pay a tax penalty — is unconstitutional. The latest ruling by a federal court found the mandate unconstitutional, while courts in Michigan and Virginia have upheld the provision.
Sebelius reiterated in the conference call that she expects legal challenges to the law eventually will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.<br clear=”all” />
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Kathleen Sebelius on the cost to Kansans of repealing the health reform law
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