Ever since she took over the command of Washington’s massive health care bureaucracy in 2009, Kathleen Sebelius has had to weather many a storms, including the global flu pandemic that almost coincided with her appointment, as well as the medical fallout from the worst-ever oil spill in US history.

But, by far, the toughest challenge that Sebelius has had to take on has been to defend, and face the backlash, for “Obamacare” - the much-debated massive expansion of America’s health care system, the biggest ever in the last five decades!

In fact, even after a year of the passage of the 10-year, $1.1-trillion overhaul, the move still continues to be a deep and troublesome fault line in the US politics; with Sebelius’ critics being almost ruthless in opposing it.

Nonetheless, Sebelius has equally fervently taken on the House Republicans, criticizing their plan to swap Medicare’s guaranteed benefit with a set payment adjusted for inflation which would be paid to private insurance companies.

In the latest volley of the ongoing scuffle over health care, Sebelius said at a last-week news conference that the GOP plan “would destroy this commitment made 46 years ago to the seniors of this country that they won’t go bankrupt based on health care costs.”

Sebelius, who wants to see health care reform through to the end, further added: “The federal government pays 70 percent of the costs of health care for the very members of Congress who voted to flip that on seniors. It’s a commitment that they haven’t taken on themselves, but they’re willing to put on the seniors of this country.”