HHS Secretary 10-289’s Insurance and Hospitals

In Atlas Shrugged, directive 10-289 forced private industries to sign over their intellectual property and profits to the government in the form of “gift certificates.” Now Kathleen Sibelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is strongly encouraging health industry officials to donate money to the department to help implement Obamacare. Of course, what is implied, is if these Health Care bigwigs don’t play along and donate, they will likely come under fire by the government.

From the WaPo here:

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has gone, hat in hand, to health industry officials, asking them to make large financial donations to help with the effort to implement President Obama’s landmark health-care law.

Over the past three months, Sebelius has made multiple phone calls to health industry executives, community organizations and church groups and asked that they contribute whatever they can to nonprofit groups that are working to enroll uninsured Americans and increase awareness of the law.

Federal regulations do not allow department officials to fundraise in their professional capacity. The industry official who had knowledge of the calls said there was a clear insinuation by the administration that the insurers should give financially to the nonprofits.

Meredith McGehee, policy director for the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, which researches government ethics issues, said she was troubled by Sebelius’s activities because the secretary seemed to be “using the power of government to compel giving or insinuate that giving is going to be looked at favorably by the government.”

So 10-289 is finally here, or at least part of it is. Obamacare is neither affordable nor fair, but the government will not stop trying to force it down our throats- even if it means that they forcibly take cash from health care providers to do it.