Dec 7, 2009

HHS will be a federal giant under ObamaCare

From a Washington Examiner report:

A quick search of the Senate health bill will bring up "secretary" 2,500 times.

That's because Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (pictured) would be awarded unprecedented new powers under the proposal, including the authority to decide what medical care should be covered by insurers as well as the terms and conditions of coverage and who should receive it.

"The legislation lists 1,697 times where the secretary of health and humans services is given the authority to create, determine or define things in the bill," said Devon Herrick, a health care expert at the National Center for Policy Analysis.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius would also have the power to decide where abortion is allowed under a government-run plan, which has drawn opposition from Republicans and a few moderate Democrats.

And the bill even empowers the department to establish a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation that would have the authority to make cost-saving cuts without having to get the approval of Congress first.

More here.