Health Secretary Resigns After Woes of HealthCare.gov

[The Straight Story]

Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON — Kathleen Sebelius, the health and human services secretary, is resigning, ending a stormy five-year tenure marred by the disastrous rollout of President Obama’s signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act.

Mr. Obama accepted Ms. Sebelius’s resignation this week, and on Friday morning he will nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to replace her, officials said.

The departure comes as the Obama administration tries to move beyond its early stumbles in carrying out the law, persuade a still-skeptical public of its lasting benefits, and help Democratic incumbents, who face blistering attack ads after supporting the legislation, survive the midterm elections this fall.

Officials said Ms. Sebelius, 65, made the decision to resign and was not forced out. But the frustration at the White House over her performance had become increasingly clear, as administration aides worried that the crippling problems at HealthCare.gov, the website set up to enroll Americans in insurance exchanges, would result in lasting damage to the president’s legacy.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/11/us/politics/sebelius-resigning-as-health-secretary.html?_r=0

[PoliticAverse]

1. Bloomberg.com version of the story...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-10/sebelius-said-to-resign-as-u-s-health-secretary.html

[yeoman6987]

4. The comments are not flattering

She wasn't Obama's first choice, but she did the best she could. That is a huge program. I can' t imagine anyone doing it better except maybe in the PR part. She let the negative go on too long and never really got her "voice" heard enough or in time to alleviate the damage.

[Adrahil]

32. She could have very well done better.

She should have hired a top end tech expert to oversee it from a GOVERNMENT perspective... Not a contractor.

[ellennelle]

16. thx for this contrast

i was incensed by the times emphasis on the only negative aspect; bloomberg much more measured.

the timing of this decision says it all, really; it's about her achievements. the times made it sound like it's all because of the website glitches at the rollout; it that were the case, she's have left then.

i've come to despise the times; sad grey lady now. talk about needing to retire.

[Drunken Irishman]

2. What a hatchet job of an article...

[n2doc]

3. They just can't help but push that meme

Gotta be "Disastrous" "Crippling" etc, etc. Somehow 7 million plus got enrolled by the deadline.

The only lasting Damage here to Obama's legacy is being caused by the MSM carrying water for the GOP.

[QuestForSense]

7. Your comments hit the nail on the head squarely.

[Maven]

5. I agree with others above that this article has a blatantly obvious slant to it.

Seriously, NYT?

[Leith]

6. Why Don't They Just Call It "Retiring?"

The article says that she is 65. Besides, the major portion is completed so she wouldn't be handing a half-done job to someone else.

Thank you, Ms. Sibelius!

[secondwind]

13. Most people only stay with an Administration for four years.. they never go for the full two terms..

it is too taxing

[lululu]

8. I don't blame her for the mess.

It looks to me like large software companies often produce junk. How someone manages vendors like that, I dunno. Maybe if the software companies didn't throw experienced people out the door when they turned fifty in favor of inexperienced twenty year olds who think they know everything, they'd make better products.

[SoapBox]

14. Ditto!

While live in CA, I've followed the mess in OR.

Even there, why the state was not kicking the shit out of Oracle, has always amazed me.

[alp227]

15. 'zactly. Welcome to DU! nt

[Stevepol]

20. I thought she did an excellent job,

particularly in dealing with the rabid Repubs when she was brought up again and again before committees to hear them repeat the same stupid talking points over and over, which she would patiently answer in the same way over and over. She was nearly always well-versed in the facts and could throw the facts around judiciously. I'm sure she was pretty tired of having to answer these idiotic Repubs and keep her cool the whole time. It begins to wear on you after a while I'm sure, especially when you get a little older.

Who could have done a better job? I think this article about Sebelius just echoes some of the false premises of the Repubs and the lame stream media. She deserves a medal of honor.

[TBF]

26. Same here -

this is an awfully big program. When Canada did single payer they phased it in over a number of years. I'm sure she did the best she could with the resources available.

[Boreal]

37. I blame her

Amazon has an enormous site that interacts with third parties. You think they spent 600 million to create it and another nearly 400 million to fix it? I don't. There are lots of huge sites that work and capable people who built them.

Am I the only one who is pissed about about us being ripped off so a few people could enrich themselves? Why no oversight? This is like MIC stuff. We have people who need help in this country and these no bid, wasteful (probably criminal) contracts should not go unchallenged and unpunished. I have the same standards toward this as the sleaze in the MIC. Theft is theft and that was theft.

Sorry to rant but I'm sick of this bullshit. I'm poor but pay taxes. I pay them for what - so a bunch of already well off people make even MORE money at public expense?

[lululu]

38. amazon

probably built their own site, so they had control over what was going on. Also, they did things incrementally as they grew and added features.

Also, selling stuff is very simple compared to what healthcare.gov has to do. You and I could probably design the features and interactions in a selling website over a weekend. Try that with what healthcare.gov had to do.

However, the government assumed the big name companies were competent. they are not. That's the root of the problem. I'm not sure that is a flaw in her planning. She had every right to assume the big names knew what they were doing.

[Boreal]

41. If you paid 200 full time

people a million dollars, each, for a year, to build that site, it would "only" cost 200 million dollars. If you paid them for two years, it would cost 400 million. That's way less than what it cost and even that is MIC absurd. In what universe is the cost remotely justifiable? Why is this glossed over! This is massive theft AND they didn't even do it right so more HUNDREDS of millions had to be shelled out for these thieves to fix it. Where did that money go? Who got filthy rich on our backs? I want it accounted for and criminal wrongdoing punished. This is no different than the likes of Halliburton feeding at the trough. The corruption is sickening.

[quadrature]

9. no browsing at Healthcare.gov ..... why?

why was it so important to not have
price-browsing at Healthcare.gov?

[red dog 1]

10. Sylvia Mathews Burwell is a "Bill Clinton/Robert Rubin Democrat"

Last edited Thu Apr 10, 2014, 09:15 PM - Edit history (3)

From a March, 2013 WaPo article by Dylan Matthews on her appointment as OMB Director:
"Sylvia Mathews Burwell: Six Things You Need To Know About the New White House Budget Director
(I was unable to find a working link to the article).
Google;"Sylvia Mathews Burwell: Six Things You Need To Know About the New White House Budget Director"

Here are three of the "six things"

!) She's a Bill Clinton/Robert Rubin Democrat
(Too bad she's not a Robert Reich Democrat)

2) She has experience fighting Congressional Republicans on budget matters
(That might come in handy)

3) Her Foundation work.....Burwell joined the non-profit world when Clinton left office.
She served as Executive Vice President of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (2001-2002)
She served as Chief Operating Officer from 2002-2006, and as president of the
Global Development Program from 2006-2011

In late 2011, she was picked to lead the Walmart Foundation


This article is worth tracking down; and, again, I'm sorry I was unable to find a working link, (perhaps due to it being more than a year old?)

"Sylvia Mathews Burwell: Six Things You Need to know About the New White House Budget Director"

I wonder if the tea baggers in the Senate will try to filibuster this nomination?

[KoKo]

31. From the Bloomberg Article abut Burwell.... Here's more...Senate confirmed 96-0 vote

Not much hope there since both Repugs and Dems voted her in. I'll see if I can find your article.


"If confirmed, Burwell, 48, would bring a background in economics and management to the health position. She was deputy director of OMB during the Clinton administration and also served as chief of staff to then-Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin during a time that included the 1995 budget standoffs that led to partial government shutdowns.

Before joining the Obama administration last year, Burwell was president of the Wal-Mart Foundation. The Senate confirmed her for her current position on a 96-0 vote."

[red dog 1]

36. 96-0....Wow!....You don't see that happening much these days.

The Tea Party Republicans who are now in the Senate would never ALL vote to confirm ANY Obama nominee.

[KoKo]

40. Yes..one does wonder. Is it what Obama was faced with.....and best he could do...

Don't know. But he DID have a Mandate...but, it still wasn't enough to overpower the "Forces of Darkness."

That she got through with such a huge Vote does make one wonder, though. She must have been much beloved.......but was it REALLY such a good appointment for Obama..given her background...or he needed to "Fill a Slot" and "word was" she would fit what he needed?

I don't know, anymore. I see him pushed by the RIGHT to always Compromise to Who and What can get Approval. But, he's never one to FIGHT in the Trenches even with his Electorial Mandate for the "Change We Can Believe In." It's gotta be hard for him "IF" he believed what he said on his Campaign Trail.

Or.......he's just another "Political Put Up Job." I don't know what to think about him these days. The Pressure on Presidents as "Figure Heads for Corporate Pac's/Think Tanks...must be Enormous these days.

Best I can say is that he's a calm figure who deliberates, when it suits him, and he pushed back on Syrian Invasion. So...We Shall See. Maybe it TRULY HAS gotten SO BAD that President's Elected have very little power...

[KoKo]

33. I think this is the link you were looking for on Burwell:

"Six Things to Know About the New White House Budget Director"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/03/sylvia-mathews-burwell-six-things-to-know-about-the-new-white-house-budget-director/

[red dog 1]

35. Thanks, KoKo

[locks]

11. Outstanding public servant

Secy Sebelius spoke Tuesday at the Conference on World Affairs in Boulder CO. Not about Obamacare but on the incredible success HHS has accomplished in public health around the world. How proud we felt as she talked about our research, cooperation with WHO, the UN and NGO's everywhere, and how many lives have been saved by caring workers and US tax money. And how much we have learned by working with other countries while being blasted by Republicans.

How she kept on working while being constantly attacked, undermined, and blamed for every problem in Obamacare is beyond me. I only wish Obama's other cabinet appointees, especially in our regulatory and financial departments, had been as strong, wise, and caring as Secy Sebelius.

[Stevepol]

21. AMEN!!

[LittleBlue]

12. Deservedly so

That was a fiasco which tarnished the image of the whole program.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

17. odd timing

just as the sign-ups go through the roof and the ACA gets momentum, she drops this, causing the media to rehash the whole thing again

[lululu]

28. "she drops this"?

I think she was forced out. Badly done indeed, but not by her.

I hope she enjoys a well-earned rest, but it must fry her chops to have worked so hard and get no credit for all that has gone well..

[Corey_Baker08]

18. I Look Forward To Bigger & Better Things In Her Future!

while many are quick to point the blame at her, it is not exactly her fault. Shit Happens that no one, including the President can predict, its just unfortunate that Secretary Sebelius took and was willing to take, the blame for the disastours rollout which was not her fault, she never claimed to be a website designer, nor did the President for that matter.

She is a great public servant that will be missed. I can only hope her years of public service does not end on this note, I really hope she continues fighting for what she believes in whether it be as a United States Senator or elsewhere she has served our country and our party with distinction and it would not be right to end her career on such a sour note....

Good Luck In All Future Endeavors Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Thank You For Your Years Of Service!

[rehabanderson]

19. They just can't help but push that meme

They just can't help but push that meme

[phleshdef]

22. Fuck the media. She ultimately oversaw a highly successful rollout that exceeded expectations.

[Zorra]

23. She's Third Way, and the RW corporations she hired to build the healthcare.gov apparatus

came back on her and bit her in the ass hard.

At best, she made some very serious mistakes in judgment.

I wish her well.

[a kennedy]

24. Faux noise should have a field day with this......

I think it would have been nice if she would have waited until the end of the year. JMHO.

[TwilightGardener]

25. I wasn't a big fan of hers, but after the bad launch, she stayed and did what

she could to fix it, took some of the blame for months, and probably knew she was going to have to step down anyway after all that. That takes character.

[aikanae]

27. Continuing the work

Her father was in the Senate when the original Medicare and Medicaid was rolled out. I can't help but think she felt a personal connection to rolling out the ACA.

I'd like to know more about Burwell other than being a "good manager". That kinda leaves me cold. What does she know about pushy insurance and medical care?

[madville]

39. MetLife Insurance Board of Directors

At least she has experience advocating for insurance company interests....

[davidpdx]

29. It sad that the media smears her despite the fact that the ACA ended up signing up

more then the projected number. My guess is the Republicans in Congress will continue to harass her as long as they can.

[liberal N proud]

30. A little victory for the right wing and their slanderous media

They managed to destroy a career in their efforts to destroy Obamacare.

[leftyladyfrommo]

34. I have always liked Kathleen Sebelius.

And I still do. And I'm glad she is getting out of there.

She looks like she has aged 20 years.