i will introduce the secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius. she was first elected to the kansas house of representatives in 1986. in 1994, secretary sebelius was elected state insurance commissioner for the state of kansas. in 2002, she was elected to be the state's governor. madam secretary, we welcome you to the committee and look forward to your testimony. i>> thank you very much. thank you for inviting me here today to discuss the 2012 budget for the department of health and human services. in the president's state of the union address, he outlined his decision for how the u.s. could out educate, out build, and out innovate the world so we could give it every family and business the chance to thrive. i think our 2012 budget as a blueprint for putting a portion of that inaction. that makes investments for the future so we grow our economy and create jobs, but we also recognize we cannot build lasting prosperity on a mountain of debt. years of deficits have put us in a position to make tough choices. to invest for the future, we have to live

kathleen sebelius is the secretary of health and human services. i spoke with her earlier this afternoon. madam secretary. >> hi, judy, how are you. >> woodruff: i'm well. how are you. >> pretty good. >> woodruff: thank you for doing this for us. >> sure. >> woodruff: caused quite a stir over there at the white house. >> i met with two or three >> what we have been hearing is that states have great ideas. i met with two or three governors the last couple of hours who want to do programs that bring all the private payers and medicaid and others to the table, work with doctors and providers. states want to look at regional exchanges. they're looking at all kinds of innovative ways to cover everybody, but they they can actually lower costs and have some even more effective delivery system changes. what the president said today is this innovation waiver has always been part of the affordable care act. since it was passed. it was not scheduled to start until 2017. but the more we got input from states around the country who were eager to roll up their s

i would like to introduce our witness, the secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius. secretary sebelius was first elected to the kansas house of representatives in 1986. in 1994, secretary sebelius was elected state insurance commissioner for the state of kansas. and in 2002, she was elected to be the state's governor. madam secretary, we welcome you to the committee. we look forward to your testimony. >> thank you very much, chairman pitts, ranking member pallone, and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me here today to discuss the 2012 budget for the department of health and human services. in the present state of the union address, he outlined his vision for how the states can win the future by out educating, outbuilding and out innovating the world. so we can give every family and business the chance to thrive it and i think our 2012 budget is a blueprint for putting a portion of the vision into action. it makes investment for the future so that we grow our economy and create jobs. but we also recognize that we can't build less prosperity on a mountai

the watched kathleen sebelius repeatedly sensor insurers who disagreed with her. they saw their own tax dollars by ads where andy griffith using weasel words, and that is from factcheck.org, about how this will affect their coverage. his own advisers and nonpartisan observers have discredit some things, but the americans will allow -- obamacare will allow americans to keep their own coverage. burris were heard that the individual mandate was a tax. then they told us it was not a tax. in the depressed -- the justice department argued it was a tax. certain people felt insulted. to wrap up, newt predicted that this would repealed by a 2013. i am struck by two things. if congress does not repeal it, we will be back here on the sick get a care of obamacare, the fifth anniversary of obamacare, the 10th anniversary, having conferences like this all over the country and we will ask why health care spending is still rising out of control, why we still do not have affordable care organizations, we will be asking and questioning why insurers are being rewarded by obamacare's

secretary of health and human services kathleen sebelius said if the state were to propose its own plan, they will be forced to provide with comprehensive coverage and that coverage will be defined by government. so so much for being able to keep your plan or for the states to make a determination on what plan best suits them. so now president obama wants every state to live through its own version of tenncare with ballooning budgets for each state and no way to kur b the health care costs that will crip they will states in the time of already strapped budgets. it's simply unacceptable. mr. gingrey: if the gentlelady would yield for a second. i would say it's unconscionable and unacceptable. i yield back. mrs. black: we averted this disaster in tennessee by dissolving tenncare. now i will work to stop this financial and fiscal daster that obamacare will bring to our nation. this health care law must be replaced and i believe this house can do it. thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. mr. gingrey: i thank the gentlewoman from tennessee. i failed to mention, of course that sh

adviser for health reform and the department of health and human services advising secretary kathleen sebelius she has worked on other levels and campaigns, she worked on the obama/biden presidential campaign and the hillary clinton presidential campaign. she was a deputy campaign manager when it was senator clinton running for the senate in new york. we are very privileged today to have roger pilon and neera tanden to talk about what are really quite titanic struggles in the courts over the future of this law. the chief legal correspondent for cbs news, i covered the court since 1994 and there are issues that very infrequently develop and form in the way this case is. it is almost like we know now that we have this kind of gathering storm off the shore and it is slowly moving toward one place and that is 1 of first place -- first street in the united states supreme court. as we said earlier there are several challenges under way across the country all of which will get to the supreme court at about the same time. we have a legal challenges that will be heard by the federal appeals court sixth

>> exactly right, the secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius, began a new countermeasure last summer, and the fda was given resources to begin imports of work from the moneys that had originally been appropriated for pandemic response. >> we need to put that one which in our legislation, but it did not get into latest version. >> right, to be able to expand these activities to address not just pandemic threats but continuing biological threats before us, we need additional language. it is a no cost proposal that would allow for the use against this broader set of very important potentially devastating biological threats. we would be very appreciative if you could look at that. i think would make a huge difference to our ability to move forward in critical ways. there are important gaps in key areas. we don't have a treatment for acute radiation sickness, such as what would occur after a terrorist attack using a radiological device. we don't have antiviral drugs to treat a number of critical potential microbial threats. we don't have the diagnostics that we need to rapidly

kathleen sebelius has made it clear, and the law has said, these can go towards mandates. it is heavy price controls combined with the heavy mandates that will force insurance companies to be unable to compete in the free market. prices are going to go up, rationing is going to occur. any state that starts putting together their own -- you know, plan -- it is better to put the burden on the federal. you have to totally repeal and dismantle this. people should stop saying that states will have their own belt use through this bill. guest: he is right, that there are concrete things in the law that are not negotiable, that states do not have control over. the individual mandate, that is something that states cannot wave. the employer mandate, -- there are a lot of things in the law, especially related to benefits that have to be in the plans. all of those things cannot be waived. he is right in that sense. what i was meaning -- republicans who are concerned about the law but still want to run the exchanges are thinking that they will test the limits of how much they can tailo

kathleen sebelius has made it clear, and the law has said, these can go towards mandates.is heavy price controls combined with the heavy mandates that will force insurance companies to be unable to compete in the free market. prices are going to go up, rationing is going to occur. any state that starts putting together their own -- you know, plan -- it is better to put the burden on the federal. you have to totally repeal and dismantle this. people should stop saying that states will have their own belt use through this bill. guest: he is right, that there are concrete things in the law that are not negotiable, that states do not have control over. the individual mandate, that is something that states cannot wave. the employer mandate, -- there are a lot of things in the law, especially related to benefits that have to be in the plans. all of those things cannot be waived. he is right in that sense. what i was meaning -- republicans who are concerned about the law but still want to run the exchanges are thinking that they will test the limits of how much they can tailor th

there are also large transfers that kathleen sebelius can use as director -- secretary of the departmentth and human services. she can reach into other funds. some would argue that the definition allows for a limited capacity to roll those dollars into the implementation of obamacare. as we face a potential government shutdown that i would argue would be initiated by the senate and the president -- if that should happen, there are still $23.6 billion already sitting there in the fund to implement obamacare. so if there is a government shutdown, the irony of it would be the federal government workers that would be working would be implementing obamacare while there was a government shut down because the funding is there and the shutdown would not affect that if it were to come about. the individual you mentioned, i am not familiar with and i know i need to follow up on that, too. host: independent from michigan. robert, good morning. caller: good morning. why is the simpson-bowles deficit reduction plan so negative to some many people? it should be implemented immediately with no amendmen

kathleen sebelius has made it clear, and the law has said, these can go towards mandates.it is heavy price controls combined with the heavy mandates that will force insurance companies to be unable to compete in the free market. prices are going to go up, rationing is going to occur. any state that starts putting together their own -- you know, plan -- it is better to put the burden on the federal. you have to totally repeal and dismantle this. people should stop saying that states will have their own belt use through this bill. guest: he is right, that there are concrete things in the law that are not negotiable, that states do not have control over. the individual mandate, that is something that states cannot wave. the employer mandate, -- there are a lot of things in the law, especially related to benefits that have to be in the plans. all of those things cannot be waived. he is right in that sense. what i was meaning -- republicans who are concerned about the law but still want to run the exchanges are thinking that they will test the limits of how much they can tailor

he's going to be working on it, along with our health secretary, kathleen sebelius. arne is going to head up our administration's efforts, which began last year with a first- of-its-kind summit on bullying. and we're also launching a new resource called stopbullying. gov, which has more information for parents and for teachers. and as part of our education reform efforts, we're encouraging schools to ask students themselves about school safety and how we can address bullying and other related problems -- because, as every parent knows, sometimes the best way to find out what's happening with our kids is to ask, even if you have to -- if it's in the case of sasha, you have to keep on asking. now, as adults, we can lose sight of how hard it can be sometimes to be a kid. and it's easy for us to forget what it was like to be teased or bullied. but it's also easy to forget the natural compassion and the sense of decency that our children display each and every day -- when they're given a chance. a couple other young people that i just had a chance to meet -- sarah and emi

>> exactly right, the secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius, began a new countermeasure last summer, and the fda was given resources to begin imports of work from the moneys that had originally been appropriated for pandemic response. >> we need to put that one which in our legislation, but it did not get into latest version. >> right, to be able to expand these activities to address not just pandemic threats but continuing biological threats before us, we need additional language. it is a no cost proposal that would allow for the use against this broader set of very important potentially devastating biological threats. we would be very appreciative if you could look at that. i think would make a huge difference to our ability to move forward in critical ways. there are important gaps in key areas. we don't have a treatment for acute radiation sickness, such as what would occur after a terrorist attack using a radiological device. we don't have antiviral drugs to treat a number of critical potential microbial threats. we don't have the diagnostics that we need to rapidly

right now, health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius the questions about the implication-- implementation of the health care law when she testified on capitol hill today. she addressed the commerce subcommittee on the budget request for two dozen top. you can see her testimony at trouble caught 45 eastern here on c-span. -- you can see her testimony at 12:45 eastern here on c-span. >> you mentioned that nfib were plaintiffs when i thought they got such great small business tax credits. i would not expect that to be in opposition to this law. i am surprised to hear that. the other thing, you were governor of a state, and i would imagine that had been governing did you ever -- under your governorship, was a budget passed? did you pass budgets when you were a governor? >> yes, sir. >> where the chamber's held by democrats in the senate and house, or did you -- >> never. >> and e-zpass budgets? >> we did. >> and the last congress -- >> the house passed a budget. >> and we have a democratic president. bmi yes, we do. >> and we did not pass a budget? >> i think the house passed

>> exactly right, the secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius, began a new countermeasure last summer, and the fda was given resources to begin imports of work from the moneys that had originally been appropriated for pandemic response. >> we need to put that one which in our legislation, but it did not get into latest version. >> right, to be able to expand these activities to address not just pandemic threats but continuing biological threats before us, we need additional language. it is a no cost proposal that would allow for the use against this broader set of very important potentially devastating biological threats. we would be very appreciative if you could look at that. i think would make a huge difference to our ability to move forward in critical ways. there are important gaps in key areas. we don't have a treatment for acute radiation sickness, such as what would occur after a terrorist attack using a radiological device. we don't have antiviral drugs to treat a number of critical potential microbial threats. we don't have the diagnostics that we need to rapidly

and hhs secretary kathleen sebelius testifies on capitol hill on her department's 2012 dept. -- budgetan president calderon speaks at the woodrow wilson center. a couple live events to tell you about. a form on the future of fannie mae and freddie mac. that group includes professional organizations for asian and hispanic realtors. our coverage begins at 9 with the town hall discussion of immigration and housing policy. and at 10:00 a.m. eastern, the final hearing of the congressional oversight panel tarp's effect.t ta then representatives of the treasury department, and the federal reserve. >> this weekend, on cspan3. the 150th anniversary of the address. and a visit to the home of woodrow and edith wilson. american history tb on c-span -- tv on c-span3. >> homeland security secretary janet napolitano says the u.s. will seek to extradite and prosecute drug cartel suspects accused of killing two agents. this is two hour. -- hours. testify on her department's fiscal year 2012 >> the committee is meeting relating to the president's fiscal year 2012 budget requests for the department of ho

the secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius, thunder law this 2,400 page monstrosity is given broad, broad new pows to run obamacare, rule make -- new powers to run obamacare, rule making, regulatory authority. then of course the new director of c.m.s., the committee on medicare and medicaid services dr. donald behrwick, brillwrant man, harvard-trained drrks m.d., written several books. unfortunately, in those books, mr. speaker, he talks about rationing care. it's not -- this is a paraphrase of a quote, it's not if we ration, it's how we ration. . again, these are things we have great fear of. the c.b.o., nonpartisan, says it will cost between $5 billion and $10 billion just to hire all these new employees needing to help the boss, the government, run obamacare. i yield back to the gentlewoman. mrs. ellmers: i'd like to expand on some of the points you're making there. we're basically talking about the same issues and we can see what an increase cost this is going to be and how incredibly difficult it would be to put this in place. and, you know, this isn't yet anoth

many seniors received a pamphlet from kathleen sebelius that made claims like and i'm quoting your guaranteed medicare benefits won't change whether you get them through original medicare or medicare advantage plan. end of quote. it failed to note that it cuts medicare advantage plans b by $202 billion over 10 years, meaning higher premiums, less benefits and fewer plan choices for seniors. the c.b.o. estimates that the current will be cut in half. july 11, 2010, president obama used a recess appointment to name donald berwick administrator for medicare services, an agency that will play a critical role in the implementation of obamacare. it was to bypass the regular confirmation process before the senate held a hearing or voted on the nominee. it allows dr. berwick to run the senators for medicare and medicaid services through the end of this year. a hearing would have given senators the opportunity to question dr. berwick about his very controversial views including his espousal of health care rationing. he has praised the british national health care system which routinely denies and ratio

they watched kathleen sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, repeatedly censure insurers who disagreed with her, they saw their tax dollars buy ads where andy griffith uses weasel words to mislead seniors about how this law will effect their coverage. they hear the president continue to say things that they know are untrue, that his own advisers in many some cases and nonpartisan observers in others have discredited like obamacare will allow americans to keep their coverage, reduce costs and reduce the deficit. first, you'll remember, first, we heard that the individual mandate was a tax. then the president told us that it was not a tax. then his justice department went into court to argue that, in fact, it is a tax. at a certain point people start to feel insulted. so to wrap up, i don't think anyone knows -- newt gingrich predicted this law would be repealed by congress by march or april of 2013. i don't know if anyone can know that's true, but i'm struck by two things. the first is if congress doesn't repeal this law, then we'll be back here on the second anniversary o

>> exactly right, the secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius, began a new countermeasure last summer, and the fda was given resources to begin imports of work from the moneys that had originally been appropriated for pandemic response. >> we need to put that one which in our legislation, but it did not get into latest version. >> right, to be able to expand these activities to address not just pandemic threats but continuing biological threats before us, we need additional language. it is a no cost proposal that would allow for the use against this broader set of very important potentially devastating biological threats. we would be very appreciative if you could look at that. i think would make a huge difference to our ability to move forward in critical ways. there are important gaps in key areas. we don't have a treatment for acute radiation sickness, such as what would occur after a terrorist attack using a radiological device. we don't have antiviral drugs to treat a number of critical potential microbial threats. we don't have the diagnostics that we need to rapidly