HHS nominee Kathleen Sebelius has corrected three years worth of tax returns after finding "unintentional errors."
Sebelius alerted senators to the changes in a letter dated Tuesday that was obtained by the Associated Press. She says the changes involved charitable contributions, the sale of a home and business expenses.
She and her husband paid a total of $7,040 in back taxes and $878 in interest from 2005-07.
Today was the first day of congressional hearings for Sebelius.
Earlier she told lawmakers that she supports the creation of a public health insurance option, as pitched by President Barack Obama, and balked at changing the current employer-based insurance system.
Sebelius, Obama’s pick to head HHS and to usher in a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, also told members of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that she would make Medicare payment reform a top priority if confirmed by the Senate.
But it was a sharp exchange between Sebelius and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that drew the most attention. McCain asked Sebelius if she would support removing the tax exclusion employers currently receive on healthcare in favor of an individual tax credit. McCain had pitched a similar plan on the campaign trail, saying that the system widely in use today is unfairly skewed toward more well-off employees.
“I support what the president has articulated, which is if Americans have health insurance that they like, they should be able to keep it,” Sebelius said. “Dismantling the current system of employer-based coverage to me is not the most effective strategy to reach full coverage for every American.”
