ShareSebelius, Pawlenty Bring Focus Back to Health Care
Sebelius, Pawlenty Bring Focus Back to Health Care
On the same day that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced an early retiree reinsurance rollout as part of the comprehensive health care law, Minnesota GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty issued an executive order directing agencies in the state to refrain from applying for new federal health care dollars.
The dueling episodes may be an unwelcome reminder to Democratic candidates who are not eager to campaign on the unpopular health care law. A monthly tracking poll released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that public support for the health care law dropped seven points from the previous month to 43 percent, with 45 percent disapproving.
Nevertheless, Sebelius told ABC Radio on Monday that the public needed a re-education on the issue. She reiterated that belief in a press conference Tuesday afternoon to unveil accepted applicants to the new early retiree program, because she said there's been too much information and misinformation in the media. She conceded that there's still some "apprehension" on the part of small businesses due to confusion over aspects of the bill and eligibility on certain levels. But she said it comes as no surprise that there's been so much confusion, particularly with seniors - also a group that Democrats are losing in larger numbers according to current national polling.
In rolling out the first phase of the early retiree program today, the Democratic administration is making a pitch about what it has done for another bloc of older voters they need on their side again for the midterms.
"Created by the Affordable Care Act as a bridge to the new health insurance Exchanges in 2014, the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program provides $5 billion in financial assistance to employers and unions to help them maintain coverage for early retirees age 55 and older who are not yet eligible for Medicare," the department announced Tuesday. The program is temporary; it ends in 2014, when state health insurance exchanges begin as another component of the new comprehensive law.
On the White House blog, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke wrote, "There has been a tremendous amount of interest from businesses and organizations from across the country since the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program was announced just a few months ago. We have received applications from more than half of Fortune 500 companies, all major unions, and government entities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and we are delighted to be able to notify our first round of successful applicants. As of today, nearly 2000 employers and unions have been accepted into the program."
Sebelius used that nationwide interest as a critique on Pawlenty's orders that deal with the overall bill. "I'm afraid that citizens of Minnesota may be the victims of whatever it is that's coming their way," she said, presumably as a reference to Pawlenty's nascent presidential bid. She grabbed a binder of applicants for the early retiree program and started ticking off a handful of Minnesota groups.
Operatives at the Democratic campaign committees for the House and Senate dodged questions about Sebelius's commentary and the re-focus on the issue.
For its part, the Democratic National Committee blasted Pawlenty and attacked his efforts as a political maneuver to further his presidential ambitions, offering a mock executive order.
DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan said, "After rejecting $7.8 billion dollars for his cash-strapped state where taxpayers are struggling to make ends meet and denying health care to a quarter million of his fellow Minnesotans, Tim Pawlenty's executive order to state employees might as well have read ‘You will henceforth work for my Presidential ambitions instead of the people of Minnesota.'"
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