Harvard hears from Kathleen Sebelius on future of U.S. health care
The U.S. is on a path to universal health care that started with Franklin Roosevelt’s 1940s passage of Social Security, says former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The next steps, she said, will include efforts to address Republicans’ “regulatory sabotage” of the Affordable Care Act. Sebelius, who headed the department during the law’s passage and implementation, said that even a repaired ACA will leave gaps in coverage, access, and quality. Debate over the next two years — health care is likely to be an issue again in the 2020 election, she said — should help illuminate how to fill those gaps. “We’re still a way from universal coverage, we’re still a way from affordable care for everyone,” Sebelius said. Speaking Tuesday at Harvard Medical School’s New Research Building to mark the Department of Health Care Policy’s 30th anniversary, Sebelius said that a fruitful area of inquiry for researchers would be...