Administration officials press forward on implementing health law, shoring up support

Roll Call: Health Care: Fluctuating Pressure On Law
But in the midst of all the uncertainty, administration officials are moving steadily ahead in their efforts to shore up political support for the law while implementing as many of the substantive policy changes as they can. Those dual missions are sometimes in conflict. Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services face pressure to cement the foundation of the law in ways that would be difficult to reverse. At the same time, the administration has at times sought to avoid controversy that might draw more negative attention to the law, which most polls show has never garnered majority support since its passage. In their efforts to defuse opposition, officials have deferred some decisions to the states, unsuccessfully tried to soften criticism by offering waivers to parts of the law and sought to compromise on hot-button issues (Adams, 3/2).