President Obama’s top health official said Thursday that millions of Americans now rely on Obamacare and it is time for Congress to move beyond attempts to dismantle the 2010 law.
Instead, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell challenged lawmakers to focus on areas of common ground in a speech at the New America Foundation, a think tank in downtown Washington, D.C.
“The new year did bring in a new round of efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act,” she said. “These efforts are happening despite increasing evidence that the law is working.”
Mrs. Burwell said millions more Americans have health insurance, some for the first time, while others are seeing their benefits improve. She vowed to defend the reforms.
“As you can imagine, I will be vigorous in making the case that this law is working, and that families, businesses and taxpayers are better off as a result,” she said.
Mrs. Burwell said she’ll also work with states to broaden the appeal of Medicaid expansion — the law’s second, yet optional, pillar.
“I want to see all 50 states expand in ways that work for their states, and we will work with governors from both parties to try and make that happen,” she said.
Republicans are flexing their twin majorities in the Congress by filing bills that would chip away at Obamacare’s most unpopular mandates and taxes, or would repeal the overhaul altogether.
Even as the secretary spoke, GOP lawmakers from both chambers were gathering in Hershey, Pennsylvania, for a party retreat that will focus in part on plans to repeal and replace the law.
The administration, meanwhile, is urging uninsured Americans to sign up for coverage on the law’s online exchanges by Feb. 15.
Disagreements over Mr. Obama’s signature achievement, the secretary said, should not prevent the administration and Congress from working together in other areas, such as using health dollars wisely or preventing drug-overdose deaths.
“I count myself among those who do not believe that disagreements in some areas — even significant disagreements — should prevent us from moving forward on others,” Mrs. Burwell said.
She singled out opioid drug abuse as a bipartisan issue.
While painkillers help millions, the pills can be deadly. Doctors wrote 259 million opioid prescriptions in 2012 alone, Mrs. Burwell said.
“That’s enough for every American adult to have a bottle,” she said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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