News
Former HHS Secretary Sued Over ACA Blasts DeWine In Continuing Debate Over Pre-Existing Conditions
By: Karen Kasler | NPR
Posted on:
The head of the federal agency that put the Affordable Care Act into effect in 2010 spent the day in her home state of Ohio. It’s part of an effort by Democrats to target Republicans such as gubernatorial candidate Mike DeWine, who filed suit against the law which requires health insurance coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.
There’s no question what side former US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is on: “NFIB v. Sebelius, the lawsuit that Mike DeWine joined – I am the Sebelius. So this is personal.”
Sebelius is a former Kansas governor and the daughter of Ohio’s late governor John Gilligan. And she said even though coverage for pre-existing conditions is covered by federal law, governors have a role. “In a number of states, the state has stepped up and said, in the event that the Affordable Care Act is struck down, we will make sure that no policy is ever sold which does not afford people protections against pre-existing conditions,” Sebelius said.
DeWine says he was opposed to the ACA’s individual mandate, but that he’s voted several times for pre-existing conditions protections.