Former Health and Humans Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius became the latest Democrat to attempt to rewrite Jonathan Gruber’s role in the creation of Obamacare. The MIT health-care expert who was credited as the “architect” of the controversial law became a headache for the White House last month after a series of videos emerged of him boasting that he and the bill’s supporters deceived voters who were too “stupid” to realize it.
But Sebelius rebuffed claims that Gruber was integral to the process, telling USA Today that she wasn’t sure if she ever interacted with him.
“Maybe he was in a large room; he could have been on a phone call,” she said. “But in terms of small meetings, discussing policy, that never happened.” She did say that her staff definitely met with Gruber.
Sebelius added that Gruber “didn’t influence the members of Congress” to vote for the bill, although then-speaker Nancy Pelosi and others cited his work while pushing the law.
She also rejected Gruber’s characterization of the process, insisting that it was very open and transparent and that the professor “is not very articulate with the phrasing that he uses.”