Sebelius: Repealing healthcare law returns power to insurance companies

Repealing the new federal healthcare law will put power back in the hands of insurance companies and take away new freedoms that elderly and other Americans are only now discovering as they receive new benefits, President Obama's top health official said Tuesday. "I believe repealing the law is a bad idea for Americans," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. She tied the debate directly to Kansas, where she served as governor until 2009: repealing the new law would cost 1.5 million Kansans the new healthcare relief benefits they are only now beginning to receive, she said. Sixteen thousand young people would lose coverage through their parents' plans made possible by the new law; 30,000 Medicare beneficiaries now enjoying new help from the law in Kansas would lose it with repeal, she said.