--- title: Obama Symbolically Re-enrolls in Obamacare description: President Barack Obama symbolically re-enrolled in health insurance coverage for 2015 through his eponymous healthcare law. canonical: https://time.com/3646217/obama-obamacare-enrollment/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-23T21:43:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:06:53.683Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Symbolically Re-enrolls in Obamacare og:description: President Barack Obama symbolically re-enrolled in health insurance coverage for 2015 through his eponymous healthcare law. og:url: https://time.com/3646217/obama-obamacare-enrollment/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f680a0874c86d03/69876808f887dc42eae884b7/obamacare.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4132 og:image:height: 2324 og:image:alt: The home page for the HealthCare.gov on March 31, 2014 in Washington, D.C. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Symbolically Re-enrolls in Obamacare twitter:description: President Barack Obama symbolically re-enrolled in health insurance coverage for 2015 through his eponymous healthcare law. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f680a0874c86d03/69876808f887dc42eae884b7/obamacare.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Symbolically Re-Enrolls in Obamacare > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ee2b0ca0-d759-4868-8c0d-dd8fc505c154&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Dec 23, 2014 9:43 PM UTC  The home page for the HealthCare.gov on March 31, 2014 in Washington, D.C. The home page for the HealthCare.gov on March 31, 2014 in Washington, D.C. Karen Bleier—AFP/Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Dec 23, 2014 9:43 PM UTC President Barack Obama re-enrolled in health insurance coverage for 2015 through his eponymous healthcare law, at least symbolically, the White House said Tuesday. Obama, who is in Hawaii on a two-week vacation for the holidays, purchased a bronze-level health plan in the Washington, D.C. marketplace [a year ago ](http://swampland.time.com/2013/12/23/obama-to-enroll-in-obamacare-exchange-today-adviser-says/)and re-upped for 2015, a White House official said. But as president, Obama is provided with employer-provided coverage, in his case through the White House Medical Unit and its military healthcare professionals. “As we said last year, the act of the President signing up for insurance coverage through the DC exchange is symbolic since the President’s health care will continue to be provided by the military,” the official said. “But, he was pleased to participate in a plan as a show of support for these marketplaces which are providing quality, affordable health care options to millions of people. The President selected a bronze plan last year, and he remains on that plan.” Last year, aides to the president enrolled him in the exchange personally, rather than using the then-troubled Affordable Care Act website HealthCare.gov, due to the complicated nature of the president’s situation. As president, some of Obama’s personal information is not readily available through traditional means in government databases. Obama also only purchased coverage for himself, and not his family. In 2010, as Republicans sought to use legislation to force Obama to participate in the exchanges, the White House said Obama would do so voluntarily. “The president will participate in the exchange,” then-White House spokesman Reid Cherlin told [_USA Today._](http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/03/obama-to-get-insurance-through-exchanges/1#.Urhl-mRDubI) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3646217/obama-obamacare-enrollment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3646217/obama-obamacare-enrollment/"},"headline":"Obama Symbolically Re-Enrolls in Obamacare","datePublished":"2014-12-23T21:43:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:06:53.683Z","description":"He bought a bronze plan","url":"https://time.com/3646217/obama-obamacare-enrollment/","keywords":["Health Care","White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f680a0874c86d03/69876808f887dc42eae884b7/obamacare.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f680a0874c86d03/69876808f887dc42eae884b7/obamacare.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The home page for the HealthCare.gov on March 31, 2014 in Washington, D.C.","caption":"The home page for the HealthCare.gov on March 31, 2014 in Washington, D.C.","creditText":"Karen Bleier—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/health-care/","name":"Health Care"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3646217/obama-obamacare-enrollment/","name":"Obama Symbolically Re-Enrolls in Obamacare"}}]}] ```