Obama Takes an Obamacare Victory Lap

Whitehouse.gov

A day after the end of Obamacare's first official open enrollment period, President Obama gave a speech on the White House lawn touting the latest Obamacare sign-up figures.

Some 7.1 million people signed up for insurance through the law, he said, a shade higher than the 7.04 million that White House Press Secretary Jay Carney announced earlier today.

Obama admitted that problems with the health care system would continue under the health law, with additional website glitches and rising premiums for health insurance to come.

But the president credited the law for both expanding health coverage and for slowing the growth of health care costs nationally. It's still unclear, however, how much effect the law has had one reducing the number of uninsured. And experts are divided about whether the health law deserves significant credit for the recent slowdown in health care cost growth, which coincided with the recession.

President Obama also took a few moments to chide Republicans for their opposition to the law—and then declared the political battles over the law finished. "The debate over repealing this law is over," he said. "The Affordable Care Act is here to stay." The latter may be true. I am certain the former is not.

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