Sebelius Promotes 'Obamacare' in Roland Park

Robyn Martin sat with her infant son Jax in her arms on a sofa in a Roland Park living room, and explained that her son suffered from Cat’s Eye Syndrome, a genetic disorder that can lead to a myriad of birth defects.

Martin explained how the syndrome had left a hole in Jax’s heart, turned around his intestines and may lead to problems with his cognitive functions in the future.

“He smiled at me for the first time in early December and I bawled,” said Martin, a Waldorf resident.

Sitting next to Martin on the sofa was U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who has been attending round tables throughout the country to highlight the positive impacts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Martin told Sebelius—and a slew of television cameras— about how that law had removed lifetime coverage caps from insurance, and what a relief that has been for her family. She said that if Jax’s bills had reached a certain amount, her insurance provider could have declined to pay any more of his medical expenses. She said his first day in the neonatal intensive care unit cost $158,000.

Because the new health care law also prevents insurance companies from refusing coverage to children because of pre-existing conditions, Martin said she doesn’t have to worry about a change of job resulting in her son being uninsured.

Martin was one of several women that gathered in Lynda Burton’s home to speak with Sebelius about the impact the Affordable Care Act has had on their lives.

Lynda Burton said she came to host the event because her daughter, who works in the health policy field, heard about the Secretary looking for somewhere to host the event and volunteered her mother’s house.

Burton, who teaches Health Science Research at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said that she is a supporter of the Affordable Care Act that was signed into law by President Barack Obama nearly two years ago.

“Certainly access to health care feels like such an essential thing for a person to have,” Lynda Burton said. 

Sebelius said she prefers to hold events like the one on Thursday because the stories these women share are more powerful than holding a press conference and reciting statistics about how the law helps Americans.  

She said she often finds people who say they oppose the law find they support it when they discover aspects of the law that positively impact their families.

“Most people, I think, unfortunately, still don’t have any idea what the health care law is about. And I think that’s why this is so powerful because it’s not somebody giving statistics or reading from legislation,” Sebelius said. “It’s real life stories about people who have no access to insurance or had a child that couldn’t get covered.”

Sebelius also said her visit was not part of a coordinated plan to tout the president’s policies following the State of the Union Address, and that she has been participating in events like this since the health care legislation passed.

But the law does have its detractors who have taken to calling it "Obamacare"  and the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to take up a challenge from 26 states that the legislation's "individual mandate" violates the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution.

However, Sebelius said the Obama administration are confident the law is Constitutional.

"We think the personal responsibilty provision on the bill is likely to be found Constitutional. The majority of Circuit [Court] judges that have looked at it have found it Constitutional," she said. 

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