After "Train Wreck," Outgoing Senator Baucus Defends PPACA

Having announced he will not seek reelection when his sixth term ends in 2014, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) told Politico he still supported and would continue to defend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Last week at a committee hearing, the senator told HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius he feared the PPACA would become a "huge train wreck" if the agency did not effectively implement the law and inform the public of its implications.

Sen. Baucus told Politico he "probably misspoke" and that his comment has been misconstrued to mean he thought the law was a failure, whereas he intended to say he feared health reform could fail without strong execution from HHS, which he had called into question during the hearing.

Sen. Baucus said he was retiring from the Senate so that he could perform his legislative and political duties "unconstrained by the demands of a campaign," according to the report.

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