WASHINGTON (AP) – Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell is ready to defend President Barack Obama’s health care law before congressional Republicans who consider it a failure and who hope the Supreme Court will void one of its cornerstones – federal subsidies that help millions afford coverage.
Burwell was scheduled to testify Wednesday before the GOP-led House Ways and Means Committee as Obama’s five-year-old health overhaul remains a partisan flashpoint likely to reverberate through next year’s presidential and congressional elections.
According to excerpts of her opening remarks, Burwell lauded the health care law for “our historic progress in reducing the number of uninsured and improving coverage for families who already had insurance.”
Burwell’s appearance comes with a Supreme Court decision expected this month on whether subsidies that millions of Americans are receiving under the law are legal. It also comes as health insurers in many states have proposed double-digit rate increases for next year – which Republicans cite as evidence of the law’s failures.
“It’s a pocketbook issue for families, for small businesses,” said Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., a Ways and Means member. “There are better answers.”