WASHINGTON (TIP): Months after the start of a rocky period in the rollout of the federal health-care law, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is stepping down, according to an Obama administration official, ending about a fiveyear long run in her job.
President Obama intends to nominate Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell as her replacement, the official said Thursday, April 10. Sebelius plans to resign her post and an official announcement about the change is expected from the White House Friday morning, according to the White House official. The move comes months after the start of a rocky period in the rollout of the federal health-care law.
The Web site on which Americans tried to sign up for coverage via the newly created exchanges was plagued by technical glitches and there was uncertainty about whether the administration would meet its enrollment goals. But Sebelius got some good news at the end of her tenure when Obama announced earlier this month that more than 7 million Americans had signed up for coverage, a sharp turnaround after a botched start. Before joining the Obama administration in 2009, Sebelius was the governor of Kansas.