Below is the letter from Congressman Kenny Marchant to Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius.
February 28, 2012
The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary
US Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20001
BY MAIL AND FAX
Dear Secretary Sebelius:
Thank you for your testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee earlier today. I wanted to follow-up with you regarding my line of questioning that was cut short due to House floor votes. I look forward to receiving your prompt response to these questions concerning the Texas Women’s Health Program.
1. What is the current status of HHS’s review of the Waiver for the Texas Women’s Health Program?
2. Please tell me about HHS’s main reasoning behind its review for the current Texas waiver request? Is this reasoning consistent with other waiver requests for similar health programs from other states?
3. In the past, hasn’t HHS allowed states to make decisions about who can be a qualified provider? Has HHS ever tried to overturn a state law about who can be a qualified provider?
4. Is the waiver being refused because of Texas law that prohibits state money from going to Planned Parenthood?
Thank you for your attention to this request. Should you have any questions regarding this correspondence, please feel free to contact me, or my Legislative Director, Scott Cunningham, at 202.225.6605 or scott.cunningham@mail.house.gov.
Sincerely,
Kenny Marchant Member of Congress