GAO describes Enroll America fundraising

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has documents showing the HHS Office of General Counsel told Secretary Kathleen Sebelius she could ask private groups to support Enroll America.

One of the five organizations Sebelius called last year – the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – gave Enroll America $13 million after Sebelius called, according to John Dicken, a director at the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

But the foundation started giving money to create Enroll America in 2010, and representatives say the 2013 grants had nothing to do with the Sebelius call, Dicken says.

Another health care group, Ascension Health, gave Enroll America $1 million after Sebelius called, but they were already on Enroll America’s founding board before she called, Dicken says.

Dicken talks about Sebelius efforts to round up private support for Enroll America in a summary of a GAO investigation conducted at the request of several GOP members of Congress.

Many Republicans have objected to federal efforts to press private groups to support Enroll America.