US health secretary calls on Republicans to move on from Obamacare debate

The US health and human services secretary, Sylvia M Burwell, has urged congressional Republicans to move on from the debate over the 2010 Affordable Care Act and work with the Obama administration on issues where Democrats and Republicans share common interests.

“I count myself among those who do not believe that disagreements in some areas—even significant disagreements—should prevent us from moving forward on others,” Burwell said in a speech on 15 January at the New America Foundation, a non-partisan, public policy think tank in Washington, DC.

Republicans, who now have control of both chambers of Congress, have vowed to repeal the 2010 health act or, failing that, dismantle it piece by piece. President Barack Obama has said that he is willing to …