In a major pitch, Obama says health law is benefiting consumers

Jul 20 2013

In a Thursday White House speech, President Barack Obama stepped into his role as the overhaul's campaigner-in-chief and talked about the millions of Americans who are already benefiting from insurance benefits.

The New York Times: Speaking Out for Health Care Act, Obama Says Millions Will Get Rebates
President Obama, slipping back into his episodic role as a vigorous campaigner for his new health care act, said Thursday that thanks to the law, more than 8.5 million Americans are getting rebates this summer from their insurance providers. Mr. Obama was joined by families who have benefited from a provision in the law, which requires health insurers to spend at least 80 percent of the revenue from premiums on medical care rather than on administrative costs (Landler, 7/18).

Kaiser Health News: Obama Says Health Law Is Saving Consumers Money
Ratcheting up the campaign to sell the health law, President Barack Obama delivered a speech Thursday touting how millions of individuals are already benefiting from its insurance rebates, and others who buy coverage online in states such as California, New York and Oregon will pay lower-than-projected premiums next year because of increased competition (Galewitz and Appleby, 7/18).

Kaiser Health News: Obama On Health Law: 'Working The Way It's Supposed To' (Video)
This video clip includes remarks by the president at the White House Thursday in which he touted lower-than-projected premiums that have been announced for health insurance marketplaces in several states (7/18).

Los Angeles Times: Obama Touts Savings From Healthcare Law
President Obama, facing a new Republican push to dismantle his healthcare law, redoubled his efforts to sell his signature achievement Thursday at a White House event with Americans who have benefited from the law. The president pledged to "blow through" GOP attacks on the law and continue working to implement it (Levey, 7/18).

CNN: Obama Says Refund Checks Show Obamacare Success
Surrounded by middle-class Americans, President Barack Obama touted the successes of his signature health care law on Thursday and the ways consumers are seeing tangible benefits. &quotBecause of the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies have to spend at least 80 percent of every dollar that you pay in premiums on your health care; not on overhead, not on profits, but on you,&quot the president said during an event Thursday in the White House East Room. The president highlighted a provision in the law called the medical loss ratio policy that forces health care providers to refund money to consumers like Chicago resident Dan Hart, a father of two who got a check in the mail for $136 (Lothian, 7/18).

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Obama Touts Insurance Rebates Under Health Care Law, While GOP Vows To Keep Trying For Repeal
Facing public doubts and embarrassing setbacks to his signature health care law, President Barack Obama stepped forward Thursday to extol the program's benefits, emphasizing that some Americans already are receiving insurance rebates and lower premiums. Obama said the program is working the way it was supposed to with "better benefits, stronger protections, more bang for your buck." The assertion was ridiculed by Republicans, with House Speaker John Boehner calling the Affordable Care Act "a train wreck" that he will keep working to repeal (7/18).

Fox News: Obama Touts Health Care Rebates, Pushing Back After House Votes To Delay Mandates
President Obama touted a provision in his Affordable Care Act on Thursday that would require health insurance providers to return money to consumers, pushing back on Republican criticism a day after the GOP-led House voted to delay key parts of the law. The president's signature health care overhaul -- commonly referred to as ObamaCare -- has come under fire by many Republicans who have worked to defeat, delay or gut major parts of it. At the White House event Thursday, Obama highlighted more of the financial benefits tied to it -- specifically, a half billion dollars in rebates going to 9 million people under a provision of the law (7/18).

NBC News: Obama Defend Health Care Law, Slams GOP For &quotRe-Fighting&quot Old Battles
More than three years after signing a massive health care system reform into law, President Barack Obama on Thursday worked to sell the legislation's benefits to an American public still largely skeptical about the overhaul. Highlighting nearly half a billion dollars in insurance rebates going back to consumers due to the law's requirement that insurers spend 80 cents on the dollar towards medical care, Obama said the law is "doing what it's designed to do&quot (Dann, 7/18).

Politico: Barack Obama Defends Health Care law, 'Glitches' And All
Obama said he was confident that, despite resistance, even hardened foes will come to like the law. There were plenty of opponents of Medicare and Social Security when those programs became law, "but once it got set up, people started saying 'it's a pretty good deal, it gives me more security,'" said the president (Epstein, 7/18).

The Wall Street Journal: Obama Tries To Woo Health-Law Skeptics
Speaking from the White House, Mr. Obama said people across the country have gotten rebates from their health-insurance companies that they can use to pay other bills and support their families (Favole and Dooren, 7/18).

Politico: The Fine Print Of Obama's Health Care Pitch
President Barack Obama said Thursday that his health care law is already providing real savings and is working as planned -; despite some expected glitches and unrelenting political opposition. He painted an optimistic picture of how Obamacare is putting money back into the pockets of consumers. … And all that political opposition? Just noise, Obama said. Of course, that picture isn't complete. The massive health care overhaul comes with enough moving parts and political baggage to make it difficult to sort through what's actually happening (Norman and Millman, 7/18).

Reuters: Obama Steps In To Push Health Plan As Critical Date Draws Near
Fending off delays and a barrage of political criticism of his signature healthcare law, President Barack Obama on Thursday touted benefits Americans already are reaping from the law and vowed to work through setbacks to fully implement it (Felsenthal, 7/18).

PBS NewsHour: Will Health Reform Law Make Premiums More Expensive Or More Affordable? (Video)
President Barack Obama defended the benefits of the Affordable Care Act in a news conference, part of a broader effort to sell the law amid continuing criticism from Republicans. MIT's Jonathan Gruber and Avik Roy of the Manhattan Institute join Jeffrey Brown to debate the cost of coverage under the health reform law (7/18).

ABC News: Obamacare Health Insurance Rebates: Who Gets A Check (Video)
An estimated 8.5 million Americans will receive rebates from their health insurers this summer thanks to the Affordable Care Act, which says companies that fail to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on health care must refund the difference to consumers. President Obama today touted the benefit as part of his mid-summer push to educate Americans on the continued rollout of his health care law (Dwyer, 7/18).