Looking back through my archive of op-eds and published letters to editors prior to starting this blog, I noted that I first began writing in opposition to ObamaCare in June 2009.
While I frequently reminded readers that ObamaCare was a health insurance plan, not a health care plan, the media continues to wrongly refer to it as health care. You pay premiums for your insurance, not for surgery.
Of all my pieces in opposition, foremost was my criticism of the law giving an unelected individual, the HHS secretary, inordinate discretion in implementing the law. The words “secretary” or “secretary shall,” most frequently referring to regulatory implementation requirements to be undertaken by the HHS Secretary, appeared nearly 3,000 times in the original 2,700-page bill. More than 10,000 pages of regulations cover the law.
The respected Robert Woods Johnson Foundation was highly critical of the power given to the secretary covering a wide-range of medical areas in minute detail.
“It puts more power than is prudent in the hands of one person, and it is not an answer to our national health-care crisis,” said former HHS Secretary Michael O. Leavitt.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, obviously in over her head, was forced to resign in 2014, after five years of inefficient operations, originally marred by a costly, disastrous rollout of the plan. I’ve often wondered if the plan included an “if all else fails” bailout for her stating: The “secretary shall” resign.
As the House and Senate put together the replacement for ObamaCare, I believe our new HHS Director Tom Price, a doctor, can be depended upon to professionally oversee its implementation. There are three more doctors in the U.S. Senate, including Senators Rand Paul, John Barrasso and Bill Cassidy, who have offered input to the ObamaCare replacement.
It’s frustrating to observe the slow process of repeal and replace, recalling the old saying that watching legislation formation is like watching sausage being made, but it will be done and signed into law. The GOP understands the repercussions of failing to do so.
