President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared his health care law a
firmly established "reality" of American life even as the legality of
one of its key elements awaits a decision by the Supreme Court.
"This
is now part of the fabric of how we care for one another," Obama said
of the law, one of his most prized domestic policy accomplishments.
For
the second day in a row, Obama mounted a stout defense of a law that
remains unpopular with the public and under legal challenge but that has
contributed to 14.75 million adults gaining coverage since its health
care exchanges began signing up people in 2013.
Obama's
remarks, made at the annual Catholic Health Association Conference in
Washington, amounted to a political argument for the law just weeks
before the high court is expected to render its decision in a case that
could wipe out insurance for millions of Americans.
Obama poked
fun at opponents for issuing "unending Chicken Little warnings" about
what would go wrong under his health care program.
"The critics stubbornly ignore reality," he said.
Anticipating
the president's speech, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,
said it was Obama who was "jousting with reality again."
"I
imagine the families threatened with double-digit premium increases
would beg to differ, as would the millions of families who received
cancellation notices for the plans they had and wanted to keep,"
McConnell said. His office issued an email citing news accounts about
surging health care costs, potential rate hikes and cancelled health
plans.
At issue in the Supreme Court case is whether Congress
authorized federal subsidy payments for health care coverage regardless
of where people live, or only for residents of states that created their
own insurance marketplaces. In the other states, residents can buy
insurance through a federally run marketplace.
Nearly
6.4 million low- and moderate-income Americans could lose coverage if
the court rules people who enrolled through the federal site weren't
eligible for the subsidies.
The decision rests on the court's
interpretation of a short phrase in the voluminous law. But Obama,
wielding statistics and personal anecdotes, made a case that the law is
so established that it has woven itself into the health care system.
"Five
years in, what we are talking about is no longer just a law, it's no
longer just a theory. It isn't even about the Affordable Care Act or
Obamacare. This isn't about myths or rumors that folks try to sustain,"
he said.
"There is a reality that people on the ground day to day are experiencing."
Obama was speaking to a friendly audience. The
Catholic Health Association split with the U.S. Roman Catholic bishops
to support the Obama administration in 2013 in shaping a compromise over
the law's birth control coverage. Sister Carol Keehan, the
association's president and CEO, introduced Obama, saying the Affordable
Care Act "took the first step toward guaranteeing health care for
everyone in our great nation."
While the president highlighted the
accomplishments of the health law, its adoption has not been without
flaws. The initial sign up period was marred by a faulty web site, and a
report Tuesday from a government watchdog agency found new problems
verifying tax credit claims.
The
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released an audit
that found the Internal Revenue Service did not get the required
information on 1.7 million households in a timely manner from Department
of Health and Human Services. As a result, the audit said, the IRS was
unable to verify that people claiming health insurance tax credits on
their tax returns had in fact purchased coverage.
Moreover, public
opinion remains mixed. A recent Washington Post-ABC poll found that a
majority of Americans continue to oppose the law. But the poll,
conducted at the end of May, also found that 55 percent of those
surveyed don't want the Supreme Court to block any subsidies.
Should
the court rule against Obama, Congressional Republicans say they are
working toward legislation to temporarily replace the subsidies for
people losing them, probably until sometime in 2017, when they hope a
Republican will be president.
Then, they hope to repeal the entire law and replace it with one with fewer requirements for coverage.
Sen.
John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said Tuesday that House and Senate lawmakers
were "very close" to a bill creating temporary tax credits that they
would unveil after the court's decision. It would likely erase some of
the law's requirements, such as for employer coverage of workers, which
means it would almost certainly be vetoed should it reach Obama.
Republicans have proposed several plans for addressing the Supreme Court case, but have not united behind one.
Associated Press
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