Sebelius headed to Capitol Hill

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is headed to Capitol Hill next week to testify about President Obama’s 2015 budget, giving Republicans another chance to grill her about the latest ObamaCare delay.

Sebelius will appear before the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday to discuss Obama’s proposal, which allocated $77.1 billion in discretionary spending for HHS and contained cuts to post-acute care, drugmakers and wealthier seniors on Medicare.

{mosads}But the secretary can also expect to field questions about Wednesday’s announcement that insurers can continue to offer noncompliant health plans through 2017. HHS also stopped a temporary reinsurance fee from hitting the self-insured health plans most commonly used by unions, drawing fire from Republicans.

Wednesday’s visit could be lawmakers’ last opportunity to speak publicly to Sebelius before the close of ObamaCare’s first open enrollment period on March 31. So far, according to federal health officials, more than 4 million people have signed up through the exchanges.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) signaled that the Affordable Care Act would receive considerable focus at the event.

“Open enrollment is almost over, enrollment is behind schedule and the website is not completed,” Camp said in a statement.

“Administrative delays and exemptions cannot fix this law, and the committee looks forward to hearing how Secretary Sebelius plans to work with Congress to solve this crisis.”