Obama Takes an Obamacare Victory Lap

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.