Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius acknowledged problems with the startup of the health care law on Wednesday but defended it too, saying it is starting to drive down health care costs for consumers.
READ: How To Find Low-Cost Insurance
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In prepared testimony to a Senate committee, Sebelius acknowledged that using HealthCare.gov — the website where millions of people are supposed to be able to purchase coverage — “has been frustrating for many Americans.”
READ: “For 7 Years, I’ve Had No Health Insurance”
But she told the Senate Finance Committee that the site’s problems are being steadily fixed and will operate smoothly for most people by the end of this month. And she said the insurance marketplaces that the law is setting up are resulting in lower rates, citing figures for some premiums that she said are 16 percent lower than estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and other data from Oregon, New York and elsewhere.
“The fact is that the Affordable Care Act delivered on the product: quality, affordable health insurance,” she said.
READ: How The Affordable Care Act Will Change Your Life
Sebelius testified a week ago to the Republican-run House Energy and Commerce Committee.
At that confrontational session, she apologized for the troubles dogging the website where uninsured Americans and those buying coverage privately are supposed to be able to purchase health insurance. The secretary, who numerous Republicans have said should resign, has promised the site would be fixed by the end of this month and says it is secure.
Insurers are sending cancellation notices to customers whose current policies lack enough coverage to meet the law’s more demanding standards — at least 3.5 million Americans, according to an Associated Press survey of states.
Secretary Sebelius: “HealthCare.gov Is Being Fixed” was originally published on blackdoctor.org
