President Obama called health coverage "a right," not a privilege as he delivered a final appeal Thursday to urge uninsured Americans to sign up for insurance required under his administration's landmark health care law.
Audience members listen as President Barack Obama speaks about the Affordable Care Act on Sept. 26, 2013 at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Md. (Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)
Updated 12:12 p.m.
President Obama gave liberals the Obamacare speech on Thursday that they had been waiting to hear for years.
The president wove together details of the policy with the politics of his landmark health care law—making an energetic pitch five days before uninsured Americans can sign up.
But Obama also said he believes the law will become increasingly less political as it takes effect. He predicted both Democrats and Republicans will like it, like Medicare.
“Once it’s working really well I guarantee you they will not call it Obamacare,” he said from Prince George’s Community College in Maryland.
The White House had been criticized this summer by fellow Democrats who feared Obama hadn’t done enough to ensure a successful roll-out of the law.
But Thursday morning, his energetic delivery suggests the president is ready for the home stretch—and some liberals were encouraged.
Sen. Barbara Boxer of California said immediately after the speech it was the case she was waiting to hear.
“I just feel that the president today really had the energy that we need at this point to make sure everyone understands,” the Democrat senator told MSNBC on Thursday.
During the speech, Obama said health coverage is “a right,” not a privilege, liberal rhetoric that the president has often avoided when talking about the health care law.
“In the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one should go broke just because they get sick,” he said. “In the United States of America, health care is not a privilege for the fortunate few, it is a right.”
People can sign up for insurance in new online marketplaces beginning Oct. 1 and lasting until March 31, 2014. A small fine applies to those who don’t comply with the law. “Tell your friends, tell your family,” Obama said as he urged the public to enroll.
Obama discussed the benefits of the law from expanded coverage to cheaper options, including the opportunity the bill allows for users to comparison-shop among plans, while allowing that there would be some “glitches” in its rollout. His goal is to cover the 15% of Americans who live without health insurance. He began his remarks shortly before 11 a.m. from Prince George’s Community College in Maryland.
Individual insurance premiums are projected to be lower for 95% of Americans, according to a report released Wednesday by the Department of Health and Human Services. The costs are expected to be an average of $328 per month, but will vary by state, family size, and annual income.
GOP leaders have pushed for Congress to defund Obamacare, but the Supreme Court voted last year to uphold the law. The Obama administration has delayed several components of the law including a rule that stipulates businesses with more than 50 employees must provide insurance and a special insurance exchange designed for small businesses.
Some Republican leaders, including Mike Lee of of Utah and Ted Cruz of Texas, recently threatened a government shutdown over the health care law. The Republican-led House last week passed a stop-gap spending bill that will fund the government through Dec. 15, but also stripped funding from the Obama administration’s health care law. The Democrat-controlled Senate is expected to reject that proposal–despite a Sen. Cruz 21-hour fake filibuster–and the White House has said it would veto anything that threatens the health care law.
“We are going to see it through,” Obama said Thursday despite a GOP attempt to put up “every conceivable roadblock.”
“The Affordable Care Act is here.”