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An intruder was allowed to reach the outer office of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Washington (CNN) – A man flashed bogus credentials and was permitted to reach the outer office of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius over New Year's weekend, agency officials confirmed Friday.

Sebelius was not in the building during the incident January 2, but a spokeswoman issued a written statement saying "this was a troubling incident" and acknowledged that the man was on a list of people barred from entering the building.

The man is considered an intruder and remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing next week, according to documents filed at U.S. District Court in Washington.

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Sebelius: New guidelines are 'not coverage decisions'.

Washington (CNN) - Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stressed Wednesday that government funded programs will continue to cover routine mammograms, despite a federal advisory board's recommendations that women in their 40s should not regularly get tested for breast cancer.

"They are making recommendations, not coverage decisions, not payment decisions and the government payers have decided we will continue to cover both Medicare and Medicaid patients who have mammograms routinely," Sebelius told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "We will continue to recommend it, and the health plans have indicated that they will do the same, if the health care provider recommends a mammogram for a patient, they intend to cover that payment."

Earlier in the day, Sebelius addressed the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's recommendation that women in their 40s not get routine mammograms, saying they "caused a great deal of confusion and worry." She emphasized again on CNN that they "don't make coverage decisions" and advised women to go to their doctors to decide when and how often to get mammograms.

"What we know is that mammograms definitely save lives," Sebelius said. She added, "We want women to have a doctor, take the information, but then have that conversation about your own health history, what the risks are of having a mammogram versus the benefits and make a determination based on an informed decision."

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A federal advisory board's recommendation that women in their 40s should avoid routine mammograms is not government policy and has caused "a great deal of confusion," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday.

"My message to women is simple. Mammograms have always been an important life-saving tool in the fight against breast cancer, and they still are today," Sebelius said in a statement.

"Keep doing what you have been doing for years - talk to your doctor about your individual history, ask questions and make the decision that is right for you."

Sebelius waded into the controversy over Monday's announcement by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that women in their 40s should not get routine mammograms for early detection of breast cancer.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Obama administration is not backing away from its support for a public option as part of health-care reform, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stressed Tuesday.

"Here's the bottom line: Absolutely nothing has changed," Sebelius said.

"We continue to support the public option. That will help lower costs, give American consumers more choice and keep private insurers honest. If people have other ideas about how to accomplish these goals, we'll look at those, too. But the public option is a very good way to do this."

She made her remarks during an address at a Medicare conference.

Sebelius caused an uproar Sunday when she said on CNN's "State of the Union With John King" that a public insurance plan is "not the essential element" of health-care reform.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – A day after President Obama appeared to suggest that his administration might be open to health care reform legislation that does not include a public health insurance option, one of Obama’s top aides on the issue left the door open to accepting nonprofit health insurance co-ops, a proposal that has gained traction in bipartisan negotiations in the Senate Finance Committee.

“I think there will be a competition to private insurers,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, “that really is the essential part, that you don’t turn over the whole new marketplace [after health care legislation is enacted] to private insurance companies and trust them to do the right thing. We need some choices, we need some competition.”

At a town hall in Grand Junction, Colorado Saturday, Mr. Obama seemed to downplay the necessity of having a public insurance option in the final version of any health care reform legislation presented to him by Congress.

“The public option – whether we have it or we don’t have it – is not the entirety of health care reform,” the President said. “This is just one sliver of it, one aspect of it. And, by the way, it’s both the right and the left that have become so fixated on this that they forget everything else . . .”
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HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday that high priority populations will likely have completed the full regimen of swine flu vaccination by Thanksgiving.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday that it would likely be Thanksgiving before the most vulnerable, high priority populations are completely vaccinated against the H1N1 or swine flu virus. In the meantime, Sebelius said parents and schools need to make back-up plans to deal with possible illness.

“We’re playing out a whole variety of scenarios,” Sebelius said on CNN’s State of the Union. “We’re preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.”

Sebelius told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King that the administration was “optimistic” it would have a vaccine available by around mid-October.

“But the regimen will take about five weeks,” Sebelius said, “A first shot, three weeks delay, second shot, and then about two weeks for full immunity. So we’re really need to work between now and Thanksgiving with lots of social mitigation – keeping kids home from school if they’re sick. I would urge every family have a back-up child care plan.”

“If a parent gets sick, was is the plan?,” Sebelius also said Sunday, “because we know the disease spreads quickly and we will not have fully immunized even priority populations until about Thanksgiving.”

“We’re looking at schools as great partners for possible vaccine programs beginning in the fall to get kids immunized as quickly as possible because this is a children’s flu,” the Obama aide also said.

HHS Secretary Sebelius discussed health care reform Sunday on State of the Union.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A top Obama aide said Sunday that even if health care reform legislation is passed, the president cannot prevent employers from dropping health care coverage.

Asked about Mr. Obama’s comments Tuesday at New Hampshire that “if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the president could not ensure that employees would not lose coverage if Democrats succeed in passing health care reform legislation.

“Clearly, he can’t prevent employers from dropping coverage,” Sebelius told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King, “and it happens all the time although health reform will stabilize that marketplace.”

“I think, at the end of the day, what [Obama’s] saying is that you’re going to have a stronger employer-based system – encourage more employers to stay where they are and encourage more doctors to actually participate in the system. Clearly, he can’t mandate that a doctor not retire or that an employer not switch a plan that might have a different network of doctors."

Sebelius also told King about a deal the administration has struck with representatives of the pharmaceutical industry that will help contain costs for prescription drugs especially for senior citizens covered by Medicare who need prescription drugs.

Related: Health care in America

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday that the Obama administration wants a deficit-neutral health care reform bill.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - More work is needed on proposed health care reform legislation to ensure that whatever bill eventually gets passed by Congress is budget neutral, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday.

Appearing on the NBC program "Meet the Press," Sebelius said an additional tax on wealthy Americans is "a legitimate way to go forward."

She noted the tax surcharge provision in a House proposal was one of several options under discussion to help pay for overhauling the nation's ailing health system.

A final bill "will be paid for - it will not add to the deficit," Sebelius said of health care reform, which is currently President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) - An H1N1 flu vaccine should be ready in October if a strain now moving through the southern hemisphere heads north for the fall and winter, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday.

Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Sebelius said the vaccine still must undergo clinical trials to ensure it is both effective against the virus and safe for people.

"We're on track to have a vaccine ready by mid-October," she said.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Obama administration is open to exploring a number of different options in order to achieve the president’s ambitious goals of increasing coverage, containing costs, and improving care in the nation’s health care system, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday.

“The bottom line is it’s got to be paid for,” Sebelius said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “We all have a shared responsibility, that we all need to play a role,” the Obama Cabinet member added.

Asked about a new proposal from Democrat Rep. Charlie Rangel, Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, that would increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans in order to help finance health care reform, Sebelius replied that “I think everything is on the table and discussions are under way.”

Asked whether the administration would reject any reform proposals that included taxing employer-provided health care benefits, Sebelius was equally equivocally.

There are “no lines in the sand at this point,” she said.

The Obama aide also gave an update on the administration’s preparations to fight the H1N1, or “swine flu,” in the fall when the regular flu season begins.

The HHS Secretary said that if testing of the vaccine goes well, a vaccine should be ready by mid-October.

Secretary Sebelius said Sunday that the government is watching the H1N1 swine flu very closely and making preparations for the upcoming flu season this fall.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday that the federal government is doing everything it can to be ready for the traditional flu season this fall and winter, now that the H1N1 swine flu virus has become a global public health concern.

“We are certainly making every effort to be totally prepared,” Sebelius said on CNN’s State of the Union, adding that the production of a swine flu vaccine could begin as early as the end of the summer if a vaccination program is ultimately recommended.

“The good news is it still seems like not such a lethal virus,” Sebelius added. “But we are fully prepared . . . . Preparation is very much under way for what may happen this fall.”

Late last week, the World Health Organization raised its swine flu alert level to 6 – the highest level on WHO’s scale. It signifies the existence of a global pandemic – from the point of view of geographic spread rather than the sheer number of cases.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A day before President Obama is set to make the case for health care reform before the American Medical Association, Obama’s health and human services secretary said the young administration is open to considering a number of options to meet its goals of containing costs and extending coverage in the nation’s health care system.

“The costs are crushing us,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “It’s hurting families. Our businesses are less competitive. We can’t continue on this pathway,” the Obama Cabinet member added.

To achieve Obama’s health care reform agenda, the administration is considering several different approaches including a public insurance option, Sebelius said Sunday.

A public option would be similar to the existing Medicare and Medicaid programs and, by competing with plans offered by private insurers, the White House hopes it would help to lower the cost of coverage throughout the market.

“Competition is a good thing . . . Choice and competition is what we want,” Sebelius told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King Sunday.

“The president does not want to dismantle privately owned plans. He doesn’t want the 180 million people who have employer coverage to lose that coverage. He wants to strengthen the marketplace.”
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The Senate has confirmed Sebelius to head the HHS.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Senate confirmed former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as secretary of Health and Human Services Tuesday on a 65-31 vote.

With the Sebelius confirmation, every Cabinet post in the Obama administration has now been filled.

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Kathleen Sebelius is expected to be confirmed as the health and human services secretary.

(CNN) - The Obama administration is up against its first public health outbreak without a secretary of health and human services, but that could change with a Senate vote expected as early as Tuesday on the confirmation of Kathleen Sebelius.

If confirmed, Sebelius would take office as swine flu numbers climb worldwide. As of Tuesday morning, at least 90 cases have been confirmed, including 50 in the United States.

The White House, which declared a public health emergency Sunday, has insisted that it is equipped to handle the situation.

"I think this notion somehow that if there's not currently a secretary, that there's not the function that needs to take place in order to prepare for either this or any other situation is just simply not the case," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

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The Senate could vote as early as Tuesday to confirm Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as the department's new leader.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Service Employees International Union launched an online movement Monday attacking Republican senators for blocking the confirmation of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for Health and Human Services Secretary in the wake of the recent swine flu pandemic.

The SEIU accuses GOP senators of holding up the vote "to curry favor with extremist roots," and invokes Hurricane Katrina to urge visitors of the Web site to sign the petition.

"This disease is spreading as we speak, but right now, a Bush-appointed accountant is running the department," the union says on its website. "We need an HHS Secretary NOW. Sign the petition telling the Senate to vote immediately to confirm Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. If we don't act, the swine flu might just turn into another Hurricane Katrina."

The Senate could vote as early as Tuesday to confirm Sebelius as the department's new leader.

Sebelius is Obama's nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Calling her a politician with "serious lapses of conscience and integrity," a group of conservative leaders sent a letter Wednesday to senators urging members to oppose the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for secretary of health and human services.

Leaders of the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America and Focus on the Family called on senators who "claim to uphold the sanctity of life and the responsibility of the office of HHS" to vote against her. This comes one day after a committee voted 15-8 in favor of sending her nomination to the full Senate.

"Gov. Kathleen Sebelius's lack of integrity during the nomination process, together with her extreme pro-abortion record clearly demonstrate that she is unfit to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services," the letter states. "Americans want and deserve better than a health care system run by a politician with serious lapses of conscience and integrity."

The Democratic governor has faced heat from some conservatives for her support of abortion rights. In the letter, the group called her an "abortion radical" and one of the "most fervent advocates for taxpayer-funded and late-term abortions in American politics."

"Given her propensity for abortion radicalism, her failure to pay her own taxes and her demonstrated lack of integrity, she will be a divisive force in this important office," the group said in the letter.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Senate Finance Committee voted Tuesday morning to send the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be secretary of health and human services to the full Senate.

Senators voted 15-8 to report her nomination to the Senate.

(CNN) — Kathleen Sebelius revealed Tuesday that she recently paid nearly $8,000 in back taxes and interest, becoming the sixth Obama nominee to have tax issues.

In the letter, released Tuesday by the committee and the Department of Health and Human Services, the Kansas governor said she had errors in her 2005, 2006 and 2007 tax returns.

Sebelius said she did not have letters supporting three charitable contributions she and her husband made and deducted, and had "insufficient documentation required to claim some deductions for business expenses."

Also, she and her husband sold their home for an amount less than their outstanding mortgage balance, and mistakenly continued to deduct the interest. The couple also treated a home equity loan the same way.

As a result, they have now paid $7,040 in taxes and $878 in interest.

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Sebelius is Obama's nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius opened her Senate confirmation hearing for health and human services secretary Tuesday by pledging swift action on the burgeoning U.S. health-care crisis.

"We face a health system that burdens families, businesses, and government budgets with sky-rocketing costs. Action is not a choice. It is a necessity," she told members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Sebelius' hearing was chaired by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, who has made few public appearances since being diagnosed last year with malignant glioma, an often-lethal type of brain tumor.

"Over the past 10 months, I've seen our health-care system up close. I've benefited from the best of medicine," Kennedy said. "But we have too many uninsured Americans. We have sickness care and not health care. We have too much bureaucracy. ... Costs are out of control. But today, we have an opportunity like never before to reform our health care."

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A group of Christian leaders issued a statement in support of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, the President's choice to lead HHS.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, is getting some support from Christian leaders in what could be a brewing battle over her position on abortion policy.

Sebelius, who is Catholic and personally opposed to abortion, has nonetheless angered some religious groups with her policy positions on abortion during her tenure as governor.

In a statement issued Monday, a group of Christian leaders said that under Sebelius, the number of abortions in the state had decreased, pre-natal care had expanded, adoption funding and incentives increased, and legislation passed that protected the unborn from crime.

“Such a record demonstrates a commitment to results rather than rhetoric on life issues,” the group said.

Citing her appeal in a heavily Republican state, the group also suggested Sebelius has the ability to bridge ideological divides. “Her record and her relationships with leaders in both parties are proof that pro-choice and pro-life leaders can work together to advance a pro-family agenda....Efforts to discredit her will no doubt arise,” they said, but Sebelius “deserves a fair hearing in Congress and in the public square.”

Related: Abortion could dominate Sebelius confirmation