Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar is weighing on the recent revelations that former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius convinced a wealthy philanthropic group to contribute $13 million to an organization created to increase the plan’s enrollment.
According to the DailyMail, Sebelius “maneuvered one of America’s richest liberal philanthropies into contributing $13 million to Enroll America, a group founded by a former Obama White House staffer to drive up insurance enrollment numbers under the Affordable Care Act.
“I’ve said all along that ObamaCare is a complete disaster,” Gosar said. “Now we learn it’s so bad that Secretary Sebelius attempted to solicit donations from an industry that her department is supposed to regulate in order to persuade folks to sign up. The evidence couldn’t be clearer that ObamaCare just doesn’t work. It’s time for patient-centered, market-based health care reform along the lines of a bill I helped draft, the American Health Care Reform Act.”
The Daily Mail reports, “A report issued Monday by the Government Accountability Office shows what Republican members of Congress have anticipated learning since 2013; that Sebelius called a total of five organizations a year ago and urged them to help Enroll America reach its goals.”
The report highlights:
• In June 2013, the Secretary of HHS (hereafter referred to as the Secretary) testified that she solicited support on behalf of Enroll America, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to maximize the number of uninsured Americans who enroll in health coverage made available by PPACA. However, certain facts surrounding HHS’s activities to solicit support for outside entities engaged in PPACA-related activities were unclear.
• Our review of HHS’s written responses and documentation found that, since the enactment of PPACA, the Secretary of HHS contacted the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of five organizations to solicit support for one outside entity, Enroll America, involved in activities related to PPACA.
Specifically, the Secretary requested financial support for Enroll America from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and H&R Block; and nonfinancial support, such as technical assistance, from Ascension Health, Johnson & Johnson, and Kaiser (which consists of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals).
The DailyMail noted that Kaiser Permanente, Ascension Health and Johnson & Johnson are all companies HHS regulates.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn told MailOnline that ‘Kathleen Sebelius’ shake-down of the very health companies her department regulates is a gross abuse of government power.’
According to the DailyMail, “Enroll America president Anne Filipic was the White House’s deputy chief of public engagement, and the Democratic National Committee’s deputy executive director, before leading the Obamacare cheerleading group.”