When Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, told HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that he worried Obamacare’s implementation was headed for a “train wreck,” she publicly promised to bring him into the loop.
Turns out that Sebelius kept her word and has been giving Baucus one-on-one briefings on the law’s implementation every other week since his very public April 17 complaint about a lack of information. (Her staff promised synchronized press briefings implementation and has since declined to provide those.) The White House also has chipped in, sending Chief of Staff Denis McDonough to brief Baucus on the healthcare overhaul’s implementation (along with other issues) on alternating weeks from Sebelius’ briefings, according to his staff.