Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell insisted Monday that Obamacare is “clearly working,” trying to move past the rocky rollout of President Obama‘s signature health law by insisting that her agency was not concerned with fighting “last year’s battles.”
Burwell in a speech at George Washington University said that the verdict was in on Obama’s signature domestic initiative.
“The Affordable Care Act is clearly working,” the HHS chief said. “Healthcare is more affordable for families, businesses and for our economy as [a] whole. Coverage and services are more widely available to more people. Doctors and hospitals are delivering better care to their patients.”
Burwell, Obama’s former budget director, was overwhelmingly confirmed by the Senate in June, partly because of her managerial track record.
However, Obamacare faces a great number of obstacles in year two, including premium increases, public dissatisfaction with the health law, re-enrollment issues and determining subsidy eligibility.
Burwell pledged on Monday to document the agency’s efforts to confront those issues as transparently as possible.
“Transparency builds trust, and it is something we take very seriously,” she said, alluding to recent problems verifying consumers’ citizenship status. “Even if the numbers aren’t quite where we want them to be on something, we’re going to tell you about it.”
