Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Obama Presidency Oral History Index / Policies Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Transcript Nancy-Ann DeParle ...that we looked to when we looked at the Affordable Care Act [ACA] and how to set that up. And it'... ...we looked at the Affordable Care Act [ ACA ] and how to set that up. And it's tru... ...that, were very relevant to the way the Affordable Care Act marketplaces were set up. But in fact... ...exhausting process of driving the Affordable Care Act to fruition. And it was those storie... ...way, nothing like what happened in the Affordable Care Act . But we were going to be involved i... ...bill, and how they differed from the Affordable Care Act , and basically concluded that, really... ...level, made a difference in getting the Affordable Care Act done. I think women tend to be a littl... ...especially now, ten years after the Affordable Care Act was enacted, after ten years of wha... ...Republicans and other opponents of the ACA were never committed to helping mak... ...predictable from someone for whom the Affordable Care Act is like their baby, in a way—but I d... ...policies that we originally had in the Affordable Care Act , or just strengthening them in som... ...got sick again. Thank goodness for the Affordable Care Act , because she was able to ge... ...about the implementation phase of the Affordable Care Act . Did you think that the passage of th... ...when you passed a massive bill like the Affordable Care Act —my experience was the Balanced Budge... ...thing. So what happened was, after the Affordable Care Act passed, remember that Rahm and I ha... ...me right away—saying, “Because of the Affordable Care Act —” I don't think they were then callin... ...I don't think they were then calling it Obamacare “—thanks to the Affordable Care Act, w... ...calling it Obamacare “—thanks to the Affordable Care Act , we have to raise to your premiums... ...letters without warning us, blaming the Affordable Care Act for what they're doing. But as a polic... ...upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act . What do you remember about th... ...middle class, and in what ways was the ACA 's survival of legal challeng... ...to move again. So if they had lost the Affordable Care Act , they lost the protections gaine... ...initial phase of implementation of the Affordable Care Act , he told you that he might only hav... ...during the time we were working on the Affordable Care Act , and he and Phil Schiliro and I woul... ...the basis that we had just passed the Affordable Care Act , which had massive reductions i... ...the temperature on things like the Affordable Care Act , which had become so negative t... ...that we looked to when we looked at the Affordable Care Act [ACA] and how to set that up. And it'... ...we looked at the Affordable Care Act [ ACA ] and how to set that up. And it's tru... ...that, were very relevant to the way the Affordable Care Act marketplaces were set up. But in fact... ...exhausting process of driving the Affordable Care Act to fruition. And it was those storie... ...way, nothing like what happened in the Affordable Care Act . But we were going to be involved i... ...bill, and how they differed from the Affordable Care Act , and basically concluded that, really... ...level, made a difference in getting the Affordable Care Act done. I think women tend to be a littl... ...especially now, ten years after the Affordable Care Act was enacted, after ten years of wha... ...Republicans and other opponents of the ACA were never committed to helping mak... ...predictable from someone for whom the Affordable Care Act is like their baby, in a way—but I d... ...policies that we originally had in the Affordable Care Act , or just strengthening them in som... ...got sick again. Thank goodness for the Affordable Care Act , because she was able to ge... ...about the implementation phase of the Affordable Care Act . Did you think that the passage of th... ...when you passed a massive bill like the Affordable Care Act —my experience was the Balanced Budge... ...thing. So what happened was, after the Affordable Care Act passed, remember that Rahm and I ha... ...me right away—saying, “Because of the Affordable Care Act —” I don't think they were then callin... ...I don't think they were then calling it Obamacare “—thanks to the Affordable Care Act, w... ...calling it Obamacare “—thanks to the Affordable Care Act , we have to raise to your premiums... ...letters without warning us, blaming the Affordable Care Act for what they're doing. But as a polic... ...upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act . What do you remember about th... ...middle class, and in what ways was the ACA 's survival of legal challeng... ...to move again. So if they had lost the Affordable Care Act , they lost the protections gaine... ...initial phase of implementation of the Affordable Care Act , he told you that he might only hav... ...during the time we were working on the Affordable Care Act , and he and Phil Schiliro and I woul... ...the basis that we had just passed the Affordable Care Act , which had massive reductions i... ...the temperature on things like the Affordable Care Act , which had become so negative t... ...that we looked to when we looked at the Affordable Care Act [ACA] and how to set that up. And it'... ...we looked at the Affordable Care Act [ ACA ] and how to set that up. And it's tru... ...that, were very relevant to the way the Affordable Care Act marketplaces were set up. But in fact... ...exhausting process of driving the Affordable Care Act to fruition. And it was those storie... ...way, nothing like what happened in the Affordable Care Act . But we were going to be involved i... ...bill, and how they differed from the Affordable Care Act , and basically concluded that, really... ...level, made a difference in getting the Affordable Care Act done. I think women tend to be a littl... ...especially now, ten years after the Affordable Care Act was enacted, after ten years of wha... ...Republicans and other opponents of the ACA were never committed to helping mak... ...predictable from someone for whom the Affordable Care Act is like their baby, in a way—but I d... ...policies that we originally had in the Affordable Care Act , or just strengthening them in som... ...got sick again. Thank goodness for the Affordable Care Act , because she was able to ge... ...about the implementation phase of the Affordable Care Act . Did you think that the passage of th... ...when you passed a massive bill like the Affordable Care Act —my experience was the Balanced Budge... ...thing. So what happened was, after the Affordable Care Act passed, remember that Rahm and I ha... ...me right away—saying, “Because of the Affordable Care Act —” I don't think they were then callin... ...I don't think they were then calling it Obamacare “—thanks to the Affordable Care Act, w... ...calling it Obamacare “—thanks to the Affordable Care Act , we have to raise to your premiums... ...letters without warning us, blaming the Affordable Care Act for what they're doing. But as a polic... ...upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act . What do you remember about th... ...middle class, and in what ways was the ACA 's survival of legal challeng... ...to move again. So if they had lost the Affordable Care Act , they lost the protections gaine... ...initial phase of implementation of the Affordable Care Act , he told you that he might only hav... ...during the time we were working on the Affordable Care Act , and he and Phil Schiliro and I woul... ...the basis that we had just passed the Affordable Care Act , which had massive reductions i... ...the temperature on things like the Affordable Care Act , which had become so negative t... Show more... Cecile Richards ...be as we got into the passage of the Affordable Care Act [ACA], and I'm sure we'll talk abou... ...passage of the Affordable Care Act [ ACA ], and I'm sure we'll talk about that... ...Well, the hardest issues in the Affordable Care Act passage would be prescription dru... ...in the passage of what became the Affordable Care Act . That we could mobilize our membershi... ...for reproductive care to be in the Affordable Care Act , and the things that we really care... ...debate around reproductive care in the Affordable Care Act to discuss that relationship and tha... ...whether or not we would support the Affordable Care Act if it had an abortion ban. We had ... ...in this bill we're not going to have an Affordable Care Act , because I won't pass it.” That'... ...his administration that, as soon as the Affordable Care Act was passed, folks just moved on to th... ...if they knew anything else about the Affordable Care Act . One, that it meant women could n... ...time, resources, and energy selling the Affordable Care Act , because all of those things wer... ...for people, with no cost, under the Affordable Care Act .” That to me was wort... ...that question that I had, which was, ACA and reproductive care producing ... ...group, I believe, that opposed the Affordable Care Act if it included an abortion ban was th... ...to stand up for abortion access in the Affordable Care Act , then who was? And if the presiden... ...strikes me—even going back to the ACA and healthcare reform debates—there wa... Show more... Connie Anderson ...in his push for the passage of the Affordable Care Act [ACA]. Anderson and Canfield had th... ...passage of the Affordable Care Act [ ACA ]. Anderson and Canfield had th... ...attend due to illness, to witness the Affordable Care Act being signed into law. Mrs. Canfiel... ...to attend the signing ceremony for the ACA in March of 2010, and how that cam... ...to him personally, and also for the Affordable Care Act . He couldn't have been nicer an... Destiny Blackmon ...that when you look at how people say, “ Obamacare ,” blah, blah, blah, “The healthcar... ...system is in shambles because of Obamacare ,” and just different things, to wher... Jeanne Lambrew ...how to tackle in Congress. In fact, the Affordable Care Act has a whole title on healthcar... ...really happened with that title of the Affordable Care Act . So yes and no. With regard to th... ...So yes and no. With regard to the Affordable Care Act , it was years in the making. It wa... ...similar story, I could say, about the Affordable Care Act . You have to learn from what works an... ...put as many tools and levers into the Affordable Care Act as possible—to begin to turn thos... ...progress in the early years of the Affordable Care Act in containing costs, even with what w... ...make a difference, in the case of the Affordable Care Act , it was twenty million. So it wa... ...and Public Health Fund in the Affordable Care Act in ARRA. So we definitely thought abou... ...Research Institute, PCORI, in the Affordable Care Act . Just one question about the Healt... ...we almost did during the Affordable Care Act . In terms of the timeline— ... ...adopted. I think you can say that the Affordable Care Act was probably one of the more publicl... ...we had our one Republican vote for the Affordable Care Act . So I think it made a difference i... ...I have hundreds of cartoons about the Affordable Care Act . And one of the cartoons is, “We onl... ...options being considered in the actual Affordable Care Act debate. Forgive me if this is to... ...could figure out how to do it. As the Affordable Care Act was implemented in the years after it... ...think the implementation history of the Affordable Care Act would have been different with regar... ...There were other provisions in the Affordable Care Act . We have a whole section on publi... ...of Bernie Sanders's major asks in the Affordable Care Act , is ten billion for community healt... ...Pensions], during the debates on the Affordable Care Act , really did help keep our eyes o... ...keep our eyes on those parts of the Affordable Care Act . Can I ask: When you were walking u... ...think about the work you'd done on the Affordable Care Act to make that a possibility? ... ...we were able to take that part of the Affordable Care Act , which is incredibly undersung... ...pool with reinsurance from the Affordable Care Act to really make health insuranc... ...on a different side of implementing the Affordable Care Act . So in other words, there was a lo... ...to not endorse the president over the Affordable Care Act . There were some in the union movemen... ...who wanted to support repealing the Affordable Care Act in 2012. Yes. Because of the Cadilla... ...wasn't really included as part of the ACA [laughs]. Right. There were som... ...we were trying to deal with in the Affordable Care Act . I wanted to ask you about somethin... ...healthcare. It was not just the Affordable Care Act . And trying to manage all that and d... ...weeks leading up to the passage of the Affordable Care Act , what was your role in ensuring ... ...pre-passage and the passage of the Affordable Care Act . I've read that Senator Chris Dod... ...of teams and team effort in passing the Affordable Care Act , but also the ways in which you... ...I am grateful for the question. The Affordable Care Act was nothing but a team effort. It wa... ...the processes of national security into Affordable Care Act and domestic policy, which are a ver... ...to say, I think the reason why the Affordable Care Act was able to survive the sabotage an... ...leading implementation efforts of the Affordable Care Act , both in terms of legislative fixes... ...first bills in 2011 were repealing the Affordable Care Act . So it's definitely a cloud over th... ...to do to prove to people that the Affordable Care Act actually was making a difference. So i... ...the benefits they'd gained from the Affordable Care Act ? When possible. Those what-i... ...and then one final question about the Affordable Care Act . MACRA, or the Medicare Access an... ...to win bipartisan support while the ACA didn't? I think because the ACA wa... ...the ACA didn't? I think because the ACA was called Obamacare. I hate to sa... ...I think because the ACA was called Obamacare . I hate to say that. I think there wa... ...phases of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act —the sense that it was not going t... ...that were improvements related to the Affordable Care Act . So I think it's a good example of, i... ...to ensure the perpetuity of the Affordable Care Act even after he left office, and did yo... ...probably two dozen changes to the Affordable Care Act that we secretly got into differen... ...else. Nobody is going to care about the Affordable Care Act as much as I do and as much as you al... ...were going to be able to repeal the Affordable Care Act , the next morning at nine o'clock wit... ...ability to make change exists. And the Affordable Care Act was implemented. It did make a change... Show more... Jim Houser ...a small business owner who favored the Affordable Care Act , Mr. Houser participated in ... ...with President Obama promoting the ACA . And in 2011, he was in the firs... ...observed the importance of the ACA to Mr. Houser and his business. Ji... ...Obama's healthcare plan. And after the ACA became law, Mr. Houser continued to b... ...campaign in 2010 to “reintroduce” the ACA , and, as I mentioned, was sittin... ...spoke to the media in support of the ACA from the steps of the Supreme Court o... ...to confirm the constitutionality of the ACA . Because she was twenty-two at th... ...at the time of the passage of the ACA , Ms. Dally is also an example of ho... ...were able to gain health coverage the ACA extended to people twenty-six an... ...and exchange that was part of the ACA , in fact. And it was something th... ...to campaign for what became the ACA . The various members of ou... ...that was growing, that became the ACA , and to talk about healthcare an... ...there and make a presentation about the ACA . Like you said, I testified before ... ...for Cover Oregon, which was our ACA state affiliate. Then, when that wa... ...a little bit forward now to the ACA actually passing. Both of you, what wa... ...not done. But I always considered the ACA —I think Obama called it a starte... ...to dispute or refute all of the anti- ACA propaganda that had come out. Ther... ...next step and the next step with the ACA —suddenly here we are, ten years later... ...and we're lucky to still have the ACA , except for Senator McCain'... ...a huge embarrassment. But when the ACA passed, do you remember the shop havin... ...to change or not change because of the ACA . After the ACA passes, you still ar... ...change because of the ACA. After the ACA passes, you still are politicall... ...I assume, to try and help build on the ACA in the way that you talked abou... ...healthcare on how to both implement the ACA and how to look forward to the nex... ...a speech and that it had to do with the ACA . I did not know where it was going t... ...impacts small business, how the ACA has or will be impacting our business... ...that went building out, based on the ACA 's incentives for the states to d... ...what degree healthcare reform and the ACA had caught on in the general public, a... ...benefiting or would benefit from the ACA . Helen, did you attend as well? ... ...asked was, “Do you still support the ACA ?” I said, “Absolutely.” [Laughs] Th... ...and we've barely managed to keep the ACA alive without making the changes tha... Show more... John Mier ...healthcare costs and his support of the Affordable Care Act [ACA] as well as his frustrations wit... ...support of the Affordable Care Act [ ACA ] as well as his frustrations with th... ...brought us a bit to the process of the Affordable Care Act actually coming in to be through th... ...there was talk about the rollout of the Affordable Care Act . I was pretty pessimistic abou... ...others more clearly it seems what the Affordable Care Act or legislation like that could do fo... ...way by this healthcare bill and the ACA . And so, we were there and the... ...and pointed out some things about the ACA that I think she had gotten wrong. S... ...and were complaining about how the ACA made their stuff more expensive. Whic... ...“Oh, your rates are going up because of ACA ,” I would take a jaundiced view towar... ...doing enough to communicate what the ACA was and who it would benefit? Well, ... ...additional insurees went up after the ACA in the first year alone. So I thin... ...following year. So had we not had the ACA , we would've stopped insurin... Show more... Michael Minor ...being the grant we received to do the Affordable Care Act for us to do some things. But becaus... ...H.O.P.E. and, of course, about the Affordable Care Act [ACA]. But first, you mentioned you... ...course, about the Affordable Care Act [ ACA ]. But first, you mentioned your wor... ...natural segue in doing things with the ACA . The reason I say that is becaus... ...those type of things. Then, when the ACA came out, there was a natural segue i... ...this initiative, was to getting the ACA up and rolling. What I mean by that is... ...connection between Let's Move! and the ACA . That's fascinating. Maybe I'll as... ...themselves to building support for the Affordable Care Act and healthcare reform. Yes. As ... ...they tell us to start pushing about the ACA , we had a PowerPoint, that part of i... ...from Let's Move! and the other part was ACA . Those visits that were previousl... ...Move! piece were now Let's Move! and ACA . We shared these PowerPoin... ...Move! were now also talking about the ACA . We marketed it as a way of ... ...of the parents being involved and the ACA would be another little add-on. Mak... ...We looked at it as just not as the ACA , but as an outgrowth of the overal... ...whole scheme of things, Let's Move!, ACA together. But right then and there... ...level about the true facts about the ACA , you would have had trouble, rea... ...different things, so they associate the ACA not with Medicare, but with Medicaid... ...the two. They were saying that overall ACA is Medicaid. We showed the whole thin... ...years later in more detail, about the ACA as being a job creator. I talked abou... ...not Medicaid. That's fascinating. The Affordable Care Act , of course, became law in March o... ...engaged increased in the lead-up to the Affordable Care Act becoming law, or that there wa... ...you think worked their way into the Affordable Care Act ? I think the whole thing about som... ...and whatnot. That became part of the ACA . I think was the ten essentia... ...my wife and I are covered under the ACA , and have been since 2013. Preexistin... ...Preexisting conditions, without the ACA , I wouldn't have had coverage. Th... ...of 2010, what did the passage of the ACA mean for your community in terms o... ...they really were hammering how bad the ACA was. I just believe that there were ... ...I said to people, “Look, we get the ACA out in Mississippi. We get the ACA... ...the ACA out in Mississippi. We get the ACA , Medicaid expansion, the federall... ...idea of putting extra money into the ACA , changing things up. Really, if th... ...if the Supreme Court had said the ACA was unconstitutional, they, in th... ...the regulations, had so interwoven the ACA , it would have just been ... ...strong. Number one on the list is the ACA , because they took the time an... ...level to promote and talk about the Affordable Care Act nationally, and to answer question... ...or hedged the opposition to the Affordable Care Act . In other words, do you think that th... ...it. They didn't understand what the ACA was. I love President Obama. He's ... ...in my travel things I did. I had my ACA thing and Let's Move! and talking abou... ...Move! and the larger healthcare reform, ACA . To what extent did the previou... ...looked at the Let's Move! piece and the ACA , we didn't see any distinction betwee... ...it as emerging from opposition to the Affordable Care Act ? I was deeper than that. I can'... ...only when it comes to the work of the ACA in Mississippi, but the politics a... ...early on in helping getting the ACA up and going. I was surprised when the... ...they were wrong about going against the ACA , but they were more concerned abou... ...a layperson level? Of course, when the ACA was going on, we tried to get thing... ...to get things out there. We made the ACA a part of the training. As Acaci... ...we talked, we'd already worked with the ACA . We worked with influenza, our healt... ...that that department is doing. Again, ACA , influenza, now we're working with th... Show more... Robert Trapp ...second letter. I didn't think that the Affordable Care Act [ACA] was going to make me carry a... ...think that the Affordable Care Act [ ACA ] was going to make me carry as much o... ...or not. But when they were arguing Affordable Care Act before it was passed, I believe I wa... ...February first, 2010. For context, the Affordable Care Act passes a little less than two month... ...had mentioned that you assumed that the Affordable Care Act with its flaws would be tweaked as i... ...see something like that built into the Affordable Care Act to—I understand if you're wronged tha... ...out a way to pay for it. And Obama's ACA was the start how to pay for it. ... Show more... Sandra Fluke ...of birth control coverage in the Affordable Care Act [ACA]. She later testified before th... ...coverage in the Affordable Care Act [ ACA ]. She later testified before the Hous... ...school, prior to testifying about the ACA , what form did your activism tak... ...about contraceptive access and the ACA ? Yeah, so for maybe two years befor... ...of filing a lawsuit. At the time, the Affordable Care Act was being—it was passed 2010, if ... Load more Transcripts Related Topics go to the Healthcare Healthcare go to the Climate, Environment, and Energy Climate, Environment, and Energy Women and Girls Coming soon Labor Coming soon Black Politics Coming soon