Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services for the first five years of Barack Obama's presidency, announced her departure following the victory lap and triumphant success of more than meeting the goal for people signing up. The initial goal was 7 million; after the problems with the web site, that was reduced to 6 million. But when all the counting was done, 7.5 million people signed up for health insurance through the various parts of the Affordable Care Act.
Now we have not heard it said enough: This amazing success has occured despite these facts: (1) The Supreme Court cut out one important aspect of the ACA and made the expansion of Medicaid optional to states; and half of them opted out. This eliminated 600,000 people just in Georgia alone. (2) Republican politicians and the right-wing media have drilled into the American psyche that "Obamacare is a disaster," besides dangerous to your health, creeping socialism and the work of the devil. (3) All the efforts to discourage people from signing up, including some states passing laws making it illegal for any state employee to even tell people where to sign up for the plans. (4) The website launch was a disaster that showed lack of planning and expertise for such a complex system; but they are equally to be praised for getting it fixed so quickly.
It's been a rough year for Sebelius, with Republicans grilling her in hearings and telling her she should resign. She's a tough lady, having been governor of Kansas and having grown up in a political family. However, the toughness is contained within a genteel demeanor. I have long admired her, but never more than when she kept her cool during those brutal hearings.
That's why it's so gratifying to me for her to have been able to leave on the high note here at the end of the initial enrollment period -- and before the next phase problems begin to surface. There will be problems, but it's good to have someone new in the job now, who won't have the website launch problems hanging over her.
But why couldn't the media have given her a high five on the way out? Of course, FoxNews went wild with glee and used it once again to trash the "Disaster, Utter Disaster" of last October. But even the New York Times' headline for an article was: "Cabinet Secretary Resigns After the Disastrous Rollout of the HealthCare.gov Site."
No, she most emphatically did not. Rather, she "Resigns After the 7.5 Million Enrollment, Surpassing Wildest Expectations."
Huh? Why not that? It's equally true -- and more immediately timed to her leaving. Come on, guys. With friends like that . . .
Ralph
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