Heartland: Sebelius’s Phone Soliciting May Have Been Illegal

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius confirmed in testimony to Congress that she had solicited funds from two groups for Enroll America, a nonprofit working to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and run by a former Obama aide, in a possible violation of ethics rules governing such actions. 

In her June testimony to the House Education and Workforce Committee, Sebelius said she contacted two groups HHS does not regulate—the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and H&R Block. But she also called three HHS regulated groups—Ascension Health, Johnson & Johnson, and Kaiser Permanente—to “discuss [Enroll America] and suggest that the entities look at the organization.” 

Sebelius claims she did not solicit funds from these organizations, but investigators are looking into these claims, as well as the nature and legality of her calls. Read more.

This article appeared in Health Care News, published by the Heartland Institute, June 25, 2013.