Sylvia Mathews Burwell Professions : United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Born : June 23, 1965 Browse All Authors Top 38 quotes by Sylvia Mathews Burwell No innovation in the past 200 years has done more to save lives and improve health than the sanitation revolution triggered by invention of the toilet. But it did not go far enough. It only reached one-third of the world. Sylvia Mathews Burwell innovation past years While natural disasters capture headlines and national attention short-term, the work of recovery and rebuilding is long-term. Sylvia Mathews Burwell recovery attention long Job training empowers people to realize their dreams and improve their lives. Sylvia Mathews Burwell dream jobs people We know there are states, like Alaska, where there are not a lot of providers. How do we work on issues like that? How do we work on making sure that the small-business part of this works better?... And if people have [alternate] plans, let's compare them and see. Access, affordability, and quality - that's what this is about. [But] "repeal" is a symbol of something that I don't think is connected to the substance of what's happening. Do you want to take away care from people who have preexisting conditions? [Repeal] takes you backward. Sylvia Mathews Burwell alaska issues thinking Day after day, ordinary people become heroes through extraordinary and selfless actions to help their neighbors. Sylvia Mathews Burwell hero ordinary people I had to sign the paper to shut down the government. It's terrible.... [But] what the shutdown showed many, many people is the importance of the role of government. And as frustrated [as people get with] Washington, there are so many things [the government does] that are so important to people's lives every day. The panda cam, paying small businesses their loans - these are all things that shut down. Sylvia Mathews Burwell frustrated government people So we want to make it easier to shop and understand products because many people aren't educated about what's offered - do you know your premiums? Do you know your copays? Do you know your deductibles? And so figuring out ways that we help people understand what this is, how it works, and that they can shop to get what they need. Sylvia Mathews Burwell want people needs As a global community, we must ensure that legitimate concerns about liability do not hold back the possibility of developing an Ebola vaccine, an essential strategy in our global response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Sylvia Mathews Burwell vaccines epidemics ebola Savings is an important tool because it can help the poor deal with the ups and downs of irregular earnings, and help them build reserves for a rainy day. Sylvia Mathews Burwell rainy-day important tools Technologies, including cell phones, have the potential to help millions of poor people out of poverty by enabling access to a range of safe, affordable financial services - most importantly, savings accounts - that have long been out of reach. Sylvia Mathews Burwell phones technology cells Across the globe, regardless of nationality or financial status, there is a common dream every mother has for her children - for them to live full, healthy and productive lives. As a mother, I share that dream for my children. Sylvia Mathews Burwell mother dream children Walmart's Global Women's Economic Empowerment Initiative is working to create opportunity and empower women and girls in markets around the world. Sylvia Mathews Burwell empowering girl opportunity When you give the American people the tools to make the right choices for themselves, they're going to do that. Sylvia Mathews Burwell choices giving people Legislation is about three fundamental things - affordability, access, and quality. That's what the American people want. Sylvia Mathews Burwell quality three people While we've made progress with our numbers, this will be a harder-to-reach group, and we have less money to do it.... Many people don't know or understand about the tax credit that they can receive. And so affordability is a barrier. We know that a disproportionate number of those who are still uninsured are young. Sylvia Mathews Burwell progress numbers people My mom didn't run for mayor until she was 65 years old - it was like a second and third career.... The way I've always thought about it is that I don't believe you run for office because you want a job. I believe if you run for office, it's because you have a vision for change. And if I ever came to that point, that's what would lead [me to run]. And right now I'm happily in a position where I believe I can work to deliver impact and work for change. Sylvia Mathews Burwell mom running jobs I have been fortunate to work in places where people have a passion for their work. At HHS the passion sort of exceeds passion - it's a vocation.... I obviously knew that there were certainly some challenges that I would be taking on both with the work and the politics. [But] I probably did not have the right expectation level with regard to the number and volume of crises that would occur. Sylvia Mathews Burwell passion numbers people Certainly there was the Affordable Care Act part, then unaccompanied children [there has been a surge of children entering the country illegally and without parents, particularly in Texas], and things like, we find smallpox in an NIH lab, after 50 years? Why didn't you find it, like, five weeks ago or three years ago? There was thing after thing. But the big ones were [dealing with] the Ebola [outbreak], the unaccompanied children. [It was] perhaps a bigger challenge than I had calculated on my yellow pad as I was thinking about this role. Sylvia Mathews Burwell country children thinking First of all, women inherently, I think, are quite capable of having lots of balls in the air. And so, like, it's all those skills you use; you analyze the problem, figure out your tools, and then go at it piece by piece.... It's like what you have to do in the morning to get your kids out the door [if you're a parent]. The skills are, I believe, the same. The patience issues are the same. Sylvia Mathews Burwell morning believe kids Can we have a conversation about the substance? That's what I welcome. We're happy to have those conversations if there are places where people think there can be improvements. We want competition in the system, so let's talk about that. Sylvia Mathews Burwell competition people thinking Similar Authors Kathleen Sebelius united-states-secretary-of-health-and-human-services All Authors
