The former healthcare chief who was booted after the botched launch of ObamaCare suggested Wednesday that the unpopular healthcare program could benefit from a name change.
“ObamaCare, no question, has a very bad brand that has been driven intentionally by a lot of misinformation and a lot of paid advertising,” Kathleen Sebelius, the former head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said at a panel hosted by Politico.
“I think we may need to call it something in the future different,” said Sebelius, who was the public face of the healthcare law during its tumultuous first year.
Sebelius, who has mostly stayed out of the spotlight after taking the fall for the disastrous HealthCare.gov rollout, has slowly re-entered the public eye over the last month.
Despite her statements about the ObamaCare brand, she stressed that the healthcare law is working.
“Not only are people getting coverage, [but we’ve also seen] the largest drop in uninsured rates in this country, the lowest healthcare cost growth in this country ever recorded,” Sebelius said.
“So, it’s actually doing what it’s supposed to do and creating a competitive market for people who had no choice,” she said.
President Obama has predicted that the law’s successes will eventually spur opponents to stop calling it ObamaCare.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but ObamaCare works. Pretty soon, they’re not going to call it ObamaCare anymore. You know that’s right,” he said at a rally in Detroit last month.