Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Obama Presidency Oral History Back Index / Policies Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Transcript Lisa Jackson ...Act of], more than just the ACA [Affordable Care Act]. It was also no... ...Act of], more than just the ACA [ Affordable Care Act ]. It was also not going to walk awa... Max Baucus ...Mr. Baucus was a lead sponsor of the Affordable Care Act . Following his time as ambassador... ...Before we begin talking about the ACA [Affordable Care Act] itself proper... ...Before we begin talking about the ACA [ Affordable Care Act ] itself proper, and the substance an... ...interest in healthcare reform prior to ACA . You were head of the Financ... ...why we were successful in passing the ACA and he was not successful in addressin... ...when Republicans tried to repeal ACA , because they weren't—didn't buy in... ...statement many times. And he called it Obamacare at first. Obama didn't like that a... ...about ten, twelve years, and up through ACA . And it was wonderful. Pretty soon... ...two of us—on one aspect of the ACA . And again, I can't quite remember th... ...purpose was to demonstrate against the ACA . Then, another place not too far fro... ...to find out it was mostly about the ACA . And it's just classic. It's classic... ...protests are locating in terms of ACA . But I was wondering if you though... ...that anger got located around the ACA . I think it did. I think you'r... ...But the only focus for me was the ACA , because I was chairman of th... ...committee, and this was the bill, the ACA . Now, you had this close relationshi... ...the purpose of the speech in terms of ACA ? Well, my understanding is simila... ...guess. This is a little bit aside from ACA , but I was wondering how yo... ...get surfaced in this meeting or in the ACA —maybe some of the more fundamenta... ...at that meeting or in general, around ACA ? A little. Yes, a little. I'd say ... ...meeting, in terms of trying to get the ACA through? Does it mean that you have t... ...and the meaning of his election for the ACA ? Well, I don't fully understand you... ...you worried about how much the ACA would be something that Democrats coul... ...that the program got labeled Obamacare . And you mentioned that at first... ...this was not a good idea—that is, the ACA . It did a little bit. It wasn'... ...on policy. Looking back on the whole ACA process and the implementation—I ha... ...going to do it. He wants to build on ACA , which I think is wise. So I thin... ...rid of the filibuster—not only around ACA , but other issues as well? If the... ...back on the whole process of the ACA —and maybe in general about your tim... ...that you think we should, regarding the ACA —the substance of the issue or you... ...to figure out how to build on the ACA . That's basically what it comes dow... Show more... Nancy Nielsen ...drop has completely reversed as the Affordable Care Act became more and more popular... ...the Democratic Congress's part of the Affordable Care Act , there were doctors who quit... ...the bill, as you know. And then in the Affordable Care Act , we had the exchanges instead. Th... ...before getting back to the road to the Affordable Care Act , and that is in June of 2009, when th... ...different in the run-up to the Affordable Care Act . We had to be part of the solution... ...moment, the passage and signing of the Affordable Care Act , changed the AMA as an organization i... ...really—this was the nice part about the Affordable Care Act , because it allowed some experiment... ...phase, really, of implementation of the Affordable Care Act , as well as a period in which ther... ...stakeholders, and trying to say, “The Affordable Care Act —if we implement it right, this is ... ...on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act ? Well, if you tell me when that was... ...I think that's what was done in the Affordable Care Act . And I am still so proud of wha... Show more... Neera Tanden ...we had talked quite a lot about the Affordable Care Act , and we had been talking abou... ...was one other thorny issue with the ACA that I would love to hear you tal... ...in the party. The model of the Affordable Care Act wasn't innovation. Progressives ha... ...stakeholders broadly supported the Affordable Care Act . Just to step back, a core takeawa... ...and others had was that to pass the Affordable Care Act , we needed to ensure that we had a... ...one of the arguments in favor of the Affordable Care Act in the campaign was that it would rei... ...that we shouldn't lose the whole Affordable Care Act for a weaker version [laughs] of th... ...way to approach it in order to get the ACA passed at all? This is a reall... ...think we lost some ability to make the ACA a consumer bill that protects people... ...Patients' Bill of Rights were in the ACA . But I think because we positione... ...during the process of working on the ACA that you were really concerned that i... ...I'm sorry I'm not being more clear. The Affordable Care Act itself internalized that people do no... ...vantage point. I had worked on the ACA , and then I came out of it and ran th... ...against Republican attacks against the ACA . But then, starting in 2015 an... ...spending a lot of my time defending the ACA from attacks from the left. There wa... ...of forgetting the intricacies of the ACA . I do think people forget how unusua... ...say, there's many ways to look at the ACA . That was a public policy tha... ...had [unclear]. Given how [unclear] ACA was to pass, can you tell me abou... ...the bill. Obviously, everyone thought ACA was not going to pass. It was a rea... ...to pass. It was a real possibility ACA was not going to pass after Scott Brow... ...it was weeks of we could lose the whole ACA and everyone would've done this fo... ...could not tell you what was in the Affordable Care Act after a year of coverage on th... ...Act after a year of coverage on the Affordable Care Act , which was maddening to me. I'm no... ...in terms of medical inflation, the ACA actually did bring—whether it was jus... ...did bring—whether it was just the ACA or a bunch of other [unclear], the AC... ...ACA or a bunch of other [unclear], the ACA did bring healthcare costs down. ... ...an interesting experience; because the ACA always did so much less than it... ...people wanted to cave to Trump on the ACA . Did I tell that story? I don't thin... ...Oh, okay. I have to say—I worked on the Affordable Care Act for the president. Then, when I was a... ...for American Progress, we defended the ACA for years, but we really led th... ...really led the coalition to defend the ACA against President Trump's effort t... ...on organizing a coalition to defend the Affordable Care Act . There were groups. One leader—I'm no... ...willing to cave on aspects of the ACA ,' they will not only kill the ACA... ...the ACA,' they will not only kill the ACA ; they will go after Medicaid an... ...protect President Obama's legacy, the ACA —what was so interesting to me was tha... ...flooded into town halls to fight the ACA repeal. They had a huge impact o... ...Trump would go out and lie about the ACA , about his plans to repeal, every day... ...country had health insurance from the ACA . Now, I don't think they want to admi... ...thing. The happiest day I had on the ACA was the day it passed and the day th... ...the most important reason why the ACA survived was fundamentally because th... ...wasn't so long after the passage of the ACA that you decided to leave th... ...most difficult part of working on the ACA for me was that it was, that's all ... ...But I was really just working on the ACA . Then it was passing, and I was like... ...helpful now. I take lessons from the ACA into my work for President Biden. Bu... ...do think that the durability of the Affordable Care Act —which, even though it had a... ...this. He got super in the weeds on the Affordable Care Act . I felt like he knew as much as I di... Show more... Peter Orszag ...Technology Provisions, were in the Affordable Care Act instead of the stimulus bill, but the... ...It arguably could have been part of the Affordable Care Act also, but we saw an opportunity to ge... ...already producing data by the time the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010? In very limite... ...their home districts to talk about the Affordable Care Act . There's some who thought thos... ...here, for a second. I'd say on the Affordable Care Act , the cost containment an... ...has fallen following enactment of the Affordable Care Act . There's a debate about how much o... ...about how much of that is due to the Affordable Care Act , but I believe a significant portio... ...So, that's one piece of context for the Affordable Care Act . I think the second thing is, many o... ...But I don't remember thinking about the Affordable Care Act quite in those terms. You wer... ...we had done the stimulus bill and the Affordable Care Act , and those were the two big thing... ...we could have done more or less in the Affordable Care Act , and so on. I look back on that perio... Show more... Regina Benjamin ...Council, which was created by the Affordable Care Act [ACA]. Before becoming surgeon general... ...created by the Affordable Care Act [ ACA ]. Before becoming surgeon general, i... ...you know, we were talking about the Affordable Care Act and we were talking about insurance an... ...also, of course, the acute phase of the ACA negotiations. During that time, do yo... ...to be confirmed? So, basically, the ACA was going on pretty much. And even onc... ...in the campaigning or anything for the ACA . That's, kind of, one of the things i... ...get smoking cessation covered under the ACA . That they could get smokin... ...things, is the National—actually, the Affordable Care Act produced the National Preventio... ...expanding this focus on prevention, the ACA also established the Prevention an... ...you'd have a—oh, it was part of the ACA . That's why I'm like, Why am ... ...I'm like, Why am I forgetting this? The Affordable Care Act —we had put into the ACA that building... ...Affordable Care Act—we had put into the ACA that buildings or companies that wer... Show more... Richard Trumka ...that process, the lead-up to the ACA [Affordable Care Act], the AFL'... ...that process, the lead-up to the ACA [ Affordable Care Act ], the AFL's relationship to the ACA? ... ...Act], the AFL's relationship to the ACA ? First of all, you've got to look a... ...And that didn't happen until the ACA passed in March of 2010. By that time... Sylvia Burwell ...the successful implementation of ACA [Affordable Care Act], and helpe... ...the successful implementation of ACA [ Affordable Care Act ], and helped mitigate many othe... ...part to work was the funding of the ACA . That was an incredibly importan... ...Cruz—wasn't it?—who tried to do the ACA funding. That's what leads to th... ...in consultation with them around the ACA and other issues that were coming up? ... ...stuff [laughs]. I was familiar with the ACA budget. I'm familiar with th... ...similarly, when I get to HHS, the ACA portion of this is red hot, bu... ...system. You needed to implement the ACA , but you needed to do more than—ther... ...to do more than—there were parts of the ACA that contribute to this, but you neede... ...over an extended period of time. The ACA did so much with regard to access an... ...that would. Its relationship to the Affordable Care Act , actually, was quite important... ...They wanted to completely defund the Affordable Care Act and the ability to run the marketplace... ...through insurers. That's what the Affordable Care Act is. Making sure, though, that there wa... ...people there were at HHS to deal with ACA ? Was it the right size? You said tha... ...added when you had to implement the ACA . There was some adding slots and som... ...any of that. There were things in the ACA that were created to help people i... ...from the House, votes to undo the ACA . If you look back, I think at som... ...many people don't even know what the Affordable Care Act does. I testified before hearings wher... ...I think it's about more than the Affordable Care Act . Because it's a little crazy when—th... ...had at HHS for things other than the ACA , including the CDC [Centers fo... ...the same time—we've talked about the ACA and all those pieces. So that's al... ...pieces. So that's all going on, the Affordable Care Act . But then there's all th... ...were 117 hearings and reports on the Affordable Care Act . So when you're trying to move forwar... ...at HHS, especially in regard to ACA . What did you literally have to do... ...point. When did you begin to feel like ACA was taking traction around the country... ...you put in place, the securing of the ACA in a way that it's been hard t... ...Interestingly, probably securing the ACA and Ebola are two of the things. ... ...question before we move back over to ACA , which is President Obama's interes... ...to talk about how you did develop the ACA in a way that it was working, and tha... ...all the other pieces of the ACA . That's delivery system reform... ...also things like [Section] 1557 [of the Affordable Care Act ] and the implementation of tha... ...pieces of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act . So there were sort of these bi... ...the period of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act . During that period of time, wher... ...kinds of things were going on. So the Affordable Care Act was an incredibly complex piece o... ...mean that right after the election, the Affordable Care Act is taken away. [Pause] I'm ver... ...the successful implementation of ACA [Affordable Care Act], and helpe... ...the successful implementation of ACA [ Affordable Care Act ], and helped mitigate many othe... ...part to work was the funding of the ACA . That was an incredibly importan... ...Cruz—wasn't it?—who tried to do the ACA funding. That's what leads to th... ...in consultation with them around the ACA and other issues that were coming up? ... ...stuff [laughs]. I was familiar with the ACA budget. I'm familiar with th... ...similarly, when I get to HHS, the ACA portion of this is red hot, bu... ...system. You needed to implement the ACA , but you needed to do more than—ther... ...to do more than—there were parts of the ACA that contribute to this, but you neede... ...over an extended period of time. The ACA did so much with regard to access an... ...that would. Its relationship to the Affordable Care Act , actually, was quite important... ...They wanted to completely defund the Affordable Care Act and the ability to run the marketplace... ...through insurers. That's what the Affordable Care Act is. Making sure, though, that there wa... ...people there were at HHS to deal with ACA ? Was it the right size? You said tha... ...added when you had to implement the ACA . There was some adding slots and som... ...any of that. There were things in the ACA that were created to help people i... ...from the House, votes to undo the ACA . If you look back, I think at som... ...many people don't even know what the Affordable Care Act does. I testified before hearings wher... ...I think it's about more than the Affordable Care Act . Because it's a little crazy when—th... ...had at HHS for things other than the ACA , including the CDC [Centers fo... ...the same time—we've talked about the ACA and all those pieces. So that's al... ...pieces. So that's all going on, the Affordable Care Act . But then there's all th... ...were 117 hearings and reports on the Affordable Care Act . So when you're trying to move forwar... ...at HHS, especially in regard to ACA . What did you literally have to do... ...point. When did you begin to feel like ACA was taking traction around the country... ...you put in place, the securing of the ACA in a way that it's been hard t... ...Interestingly, probably securing the ACA and Ebola are two of the things. ... ...question before we move back over to ACA , which is President Obama's interes... ...to talk about how you did develop the ACA in a way that it was working, and tha... ...all the other pieces of the ACA . That's delivery system reform... ...also things like [Section] 1557 [of the Affordable Care Act ] and the implementation of tha... ...pieces of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act . So there were sort of these bi... ...the period of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act . During that period of time, wher... ...kinds of things were going on. So the Affordable Care Act was an incredibly complex piece o... ...mean that right after the election, the Affordable Care Act is taken away. [Pause] I'm ver... Show more... Tom Harkin ...he cut it again in 2013, to set up the Affordable Care Act exchanges. He needed money, so he cu... ...talked about the Recovery Act and the Affordable Care Act , one of the connections between th... ...up with was a healthcare bill, the Affordable Care Act , that is about as convoluted as yo... ...to this day, “Can you explain the Affordable Care Act ? How does it affect you?” No on... ...and this and that, about getting the Affordable Care Act , and how convoluted it was, and sh... ...to Blair House to talk about the Affordable Care Act , chairmen and ranking members. Well... Show more... Zeke Emanuel ...although ultimately putting it in the ACA [Affordable Care Act]. You know, ther... ...ultimately putting it in the ACA [ Affordable Care Act ]. You know, there are some reall... ...teams that were working on the ACA had learned, or were fighting tha... ...why it had to be permitted in the ACA and scratching your head. On the othe... ...the AMA issued letters endorsing the Affordable Care Act and saying how important it was. S... ...part of that explanation has to be: the Affordable Care Act changed things, different paymen... ...one of the lesser-sung upshots of the Affordable Care Act . The irony is, we obviously don't hav... ...grasping at anything to shoot down the Affordable Care Act , and this was just one of man... ...ridiculous attacks brought against the Affordable Care Act . I think in this day and age, trut... ...believes there are death panels in the Affordable Care Act . Why do you think it's so hard t... ...deck and a good explanation of the Affordable Care Act , how it was going to make thing... ...things, go to churches and explain the Affordable Care Act , why it was a good thing. We did no... ...rhetorical armamentarium to explain the Affordable Care Act , to say why it was good, those peopl... ...not scripted but critical to saving the Affordable Care Act from its multiple near-deat... ...to pass legislation and get the ACA enacted, and everyone was pessimisti... ...after Scott Brown, it was, like, the ACA is dead. We're never going to have it... ...timed items that, again, saved the Affordable Care Act from a near-death experience. I woul... ...She doesn't get enough credit for the ACA , I think. Her, “Alright, all thre... ...for America. In the context of the Affordable Care Act , one of the things you wrote was tha... ...the things today, ten years after the Affordable Care Act , six years after the exchanges wen... ...want to ask you about one of the non- ACA activities, endeavors, undertakings i... ...on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act , you said if the president were to wi... ...making some rank mistakes about the Affordable Care Act . But I think in the end, the righ... ...come up and thank me for passing the ACA and getting someone they know o... ...got a heart transplant because of the ACA . There's nothing, nothing, mor... Show more... Load more Transcripts Related Topics go to the Healthcare Healthcare go to the Climate, Environment, and Energy Climate, Environment, and Energy Middle East Coming soon Atlantic Relations Coming soon Financial Reform and Regulation Coming soon