WASHINGTON - Senator Edward M. Kennedy, citing his own battle with brain cancer, came out forcefully yesterday for Kathleen Sebelius's nomination as health and human services secretary."Few debates in Congress touch our lives as profoundly and personally as healthcare. Over the past 10 months, I've seen our healthcare system up close," Kennedy said, his hands shaking slightly.
"I've benefited from the best of medicine," he said, presiding at a hearing for Sebelius, who he said had the "vision, the skill, and the knowledge" to shepherd the healthcare overhaul. "But we have too many uninsured Americans. We have sickness care and not healthcare. . . . Costs are out of control. But today we have an opportunity like never before to reform our healthcare."
Toward the end of the hearing, Kennedy asked Sebelius to affirm support for cancer research. She did.
Sebelius, the Kansas governor and early supporter of President Obama, said she backs his call for giving Americans the option of government-run health insurance as an alternative to private coverage.
The proposal for a public plan that would compete with private insurers has emerged as the most divisive issue as Obama seeks to overhaul the health system to reduce costs and shrink the ranks of 48 million uninsured. Republicans fear that the competing plan would drive some private insurers out of business.
"If the question is, 'Do I support a public option side by side with private insurers?' " Sebelius said, "Yes, I do."
The exchange with Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, was perhaps the most heated in a low-key hearing. Sebelius pledged that if confirmed, "health reform would be my mission."
"Inaction is not an option. The status quo is unacceptable, and unsustainable," said Sebelius, citing high healthcare costs that she said were hurting families and crippling the economy.
Saying she would be a tough enforcer, Sebelius also called for a crackdown on medical fraud as part of any healthcare overhaul. "Having a few strike operations may be the most effective way to send the signal that there's a new sheriff in town, and I intend to take this very, very seriously," she told the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
While Obama has pushed for healthcare overhaul, lawmakers have questioned how the administration would pay for the plan. Sebelius didn't offer a specific solution, but said the approach must be comprehensive.
Sebelius did cite Kennedy's home state of Massachusetts, where a pioneering 2006 law requires nearly everyone to carry insurance or face fines. Policy makers there decided to extend coverage first, and deal with costs later. Now costs are ballooning. The lesson, Sebelius said, is costs and coverage must be dealt with in concert.
Sebelius is Obama's second pick to head the department. Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle withdrew from consideration while apologizing for failing to pay $140,000 in taxes and interest.
Sebelius alerted senators in a letter yesterday that she has corrected three years worth of tax returns after finding "unintentional errors" involving charitable contributions, the sale of a home, and business expenses.
In the letter obtained by the Associated Press, she says she and her husband paid a total of $7,040 in back taxes and $878 in interest for 2005 to 2007.
Obama also wanted Daschle to head the White House Office for Health Reform, but when he dropped out, a separate White House health czar was named.
Sebelius's background on healthcare includes blocking an insurance company merger in Kansas while insurance commissioner in 2001. She has faced opposition from conservatives over her support for abortion rights, but senators didn't raise that issue yesterday.
The health committee won't actually vote on sending Sebelius's nomination to the full Senate. That job falls to the Senate Finance Committee, which will hold her confirmation hearing tomorrow.
News Source: latimes.com
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