PEOPLE are PERCEPTIVE .... if they say a GREAT DEAL HERE .... it would be a success, and 7.1 million would be a drop in the bucket. If Kroger's advertised bread for TEN CENTS they would be lined up for miles ...... they would not be reluctant to "take advantage" of a GOOD DEAL .... let's be realistic, the American people are not stupid .... if it WAS a bargain, they would see it ..........
WASHINGTON (AP) — After facing a rocky start and chorus of naysayers who declared his health care law a failure, President Barack Obama on Tuesday celebrated a better-than-expected 7.1 million sign-ups for health coverage that he said should end the debate over whether the law should be repealed.
"The Affordable Care Act is here to stay," Obama declared in a feisty Rose Garden speech the day after the deadline for Americans to enroll.
Obama announced the 7 million threshold that once was seen as unattainable, even as the number still could climb. People who started applying but couldn't finish before the Monday midnight deadline can have extra time, as do potential enrollees whose special circumstances kept them from signing up in time.
Administration officials said they were still compiling data that will be important in determining the ultimate success of the six-month enrollment period, such as how many enrollees were previously uninsured and whether enough younger, healthy people signed up to offset the costs of covering older, sicker consumers.
But Obama said after the initial computer problems that plagued the online insurance exchanges where people could sign up, the law was working as he had hoped.
"The bottom line is this: Under this law, the share of Americans with insurance is up, and the growth of health care costs is down. And that's good for our middle class, and that's good for our fiscal future," the president said.
"As messy as it's been sometimes, as contentious as it's been sometimes, it's progress," Obama said.
