---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Certainly there was the Affordable Care…"
description: "\"Certainly there was the Affordable Care Act part, then unaccompanied children [there has been a surge of children entering the country illegally and wi..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf4/sylvia-mathews-burwell-15780_affordable_certainly-there-was-the-affordable-care_1069584.jpg"
---

#  Certainly there was the Affordable Care Act part, then…

![“Certainly there was the Affordable Care Act part, then unaccompanied children &#91;there has been a surge of children entering the country illegally and without parents, particularly in Texas&#93;, and things like, we find smallpox in an NIH lab, after 50 years? Why didn't you find it, like, five weeks…” quote by Sylvia Mathews Burwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf4/sylvia-mathews-burwell-15780_affordable_certainly-there-was-the-affordable-care_1069584.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf4/sylvia-mathews-burwell-15780_affordable_certainly-there-was-the-affordable-care_1069584.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf4/sylvia-mathews-burwell-15780_affordable_certainly-there-was-the-affordable-care_1069584.jpg)

> “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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-mathews-burwell/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The speaker describes multiple crises—healthcare, immigration, disease outbreaks—highlighting the complexity and unpredictability of public health challenges.

**In simple terms:** Multiple crises strain public health systems.

Key Takeaway

Prepare for varied, unexpected health emergencies.

Themes

public health crisis management policy immigration disease control

Mood

analytical concerned

Type

policy inspirational

When to use this quote

- government planning
- hospital preparedness
- immigration policy
- outbreak response

Key Concepts

systems thinking risk assessment leadership

Questions to Reflect On

- How can health systems improve rapid response?
- What policies balance immigration and public health?

A Different Perspective

Resources are limited; not all crises can be anticipated.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Challenges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/challenges/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Ebola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ebola/) [Labs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labs/) [Outbreaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outbreaks/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Smallpox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smallpox/) [Texas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/texas/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Week](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/week/) [Yellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yellow/)

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## More by Sylvia Mathews Burwell

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Browse all 436 Affordable quotes

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