Sebelius on the hot seat at House Ways and Means

Former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius made her first appearance before Congress as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary this week. For those of you who are wondering how the Obama administration’s health-care reform effort will play out (or are just interested in following Sebelius’ progress), the House Ways and Means Committee‘s home-page has an intriguing synopsis of how it went, complete with YouTubes of key exchanges.

Essentially, the administration wants to please everyone and avoid giving opponents any traction with the ridiculous “socialized medicine” argument. Here’s Sebelius, putting to work the lessons she learned trying to reform health-care in Kansas, trying to convince California Republican Wally Herger that private insurers won’t be elbowed out of business if the government helps more people get health care.

Not sure whether she convinced him of anything, and it’s hard to tell whether Sebelius is squirming or simply collecting her thoughts, but there you have it.