MOSCOW, April 11 (RIA Novosti) – US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, who oversaw the launch of President Obama’s controversial Affordable Care Act, announced her resignation Friday.
"I thank Secretary Sebelius for her service. She had an impossible task: nobody can make Obamacare work," House majority leader Eric Cantor wrote on Twitter.
At a budget hearing on Thursday, Sebelius dropped no hints about her resignation, saying the total number of people enrolled for Obamacare private health insurance plans has surpassed 7.5 million.
US officials welcomed the news of Sebelius’ resignation.
President Obama is due to nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who currently heads the Office of Management and Budget, as Sebelius’ successor on Friday, the White House press office announced.
Kathleen Sebelius, a former Kansas governor, was one of the longest-serving cabinet secretaries in the administration. She stepped in as HHS Secretary in April 2009, just as the implementation of the controversial Affordable Care Act was underway.
In recent years, Sebelius weathered heavy criticism over the disastrous launch of the health law's online insurance marketplaces.
The website, HealthCare.gov, was plagued with problems after its launch last fall, making it almost impossible for people to enroll in health insurance plans for weeks. In her testimony at a congressional hearing in October last year, Sebelius acknowledged the glitches and claimed responsibility for the failed rollout of HealthCare.gov.
Obamacare, officially called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, was signed into law by President Obama in 2010 to provide millions of uninsured Americans with health insurance. The program aimed to increase the quality and affordability of insurance coverage and reduce the cost of healthcare.
Recent polls indicate that 41 percent of Americans are in favor of the health care law, while 50 percent say they are opposed.
