--- title: Ted Cruz to Go on Obamacare After Wife's Health Insurance Runs Out description: Despite being vehemently opposed to Obamacare canonical: https://time.com/3757065/ted-cruz-obamacare/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-24T21:14:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:57.797Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ted Cruz Is Signing Up for Obamacare og:description: Despite being vehemently opposed to Obamacare og:url: https://time.com/3757065/ted-cruz-obamacare/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07406bcedbf9a8b9/6987851806f2c12a4933495a/ted-cruz-obama-care.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Ted Cruz Obamacare Affordable Care Act og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ted Cruz Is Signing Up for Obamacare twitter:description: Despite being vehemently opposed to Obamacare twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07406bcedbf9a8b9/6987851806f2c12a4933495a/ted-cruz-obama-care.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ted Cruz Is Signing Up for Obamacare > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### 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. ## Video: Real Time: Ted Cruz Rallies The Right At CPAC 2015 [Watch (HLS stream): Real Time: Ted Cruz Rallies The Right At CPAC 2015](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KFQHEvq4.m3u8) (0:59)  _Published 2015-02-26. Ted Cruz fired up the conservative base during his speech on the first day of CPAC 2015._  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Mar 24, 2015 9:14 PM UTC  Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), speaks at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, held by the Family Research Council, on Oct. 11, 2013 in Washington, D.C. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), speaks at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, held by the Family Research Council, on Oct. 11, 2013 in Washington, D.C. Andrew Burton—2013 Getty Images  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Mar 24, 2015 9:14 PM UTC Ted Cruz is signing up for insurance under President Obama’s health care law. The Texas Republican Senator and newly-announced presidential candidate, known for [his staunch opposition to the Affordable Care Act](http://time.com/3756166/why-rand-paul-is-attacking-ted-cruz/), told CNN on Tuesday that he will be joining the millions of Americans enrolled in insurance under the law. “I believe we should follow the text of every law, even \[a\] law I disagree with,” Cruz said. “It’s one of the real differences—if you look at President Obama and the lawlessness, if he disagrees with a law he simply refuses to follow it or claims the authority to unilaterally change.” Cruz, who announced his candidacy on Monday, will no longer have health insurance after his wife went on unpaid leave from her Goldman Sachs position. **MORE:** [Read _TIME_‘s 2013 profile of Texas Senator Ted Cruz](http://time.com/3753541/ted-cruz-texas-senator-gop/?iid=time%5Fspeed) \[[_CNN_](http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/24/politics/ted-cruz-obamacare/index.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3757065/ted-cruz-obamacare/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3757065/ted-cruz-obamacare/"},"headline":"Ted Cruz Is Signing Up for Obamacare","datePublished":"2015-03-24T21:14:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:47:57.797Z","description":"Despite being vehemently opposed to Obamacare","url":"https://time.com/3757065/ted-cruz-obamacare/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","ted cruz"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07406bcedbf9a8b9/6987851806f2c12a4933495a/ted-cruz-obama-care.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07406bcedbf9a8b9/6987851806f2c12a4933495a/ted-cruz-obama-care.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ted Cruz Obamacare Affordable Care Act","caption":"Ted Cruz Obamacare Affordable Care Act","creditText":"Andrew Burton—2013 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/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3757065/ted-cruz-obamacare/","name":"Ted Cruz Is Signing Up for Obamacare"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Real Time: Ted Cruz Rallies The Right At CPAC 2015","description":"Ted Cruz fired up the conservative base during his speech on the first day of CPAC 2015.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KFQHEvq4/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-26T21:46:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KFQHEvq4.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3757065/ted-cruz-obamacare/","duration":"PT59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3757065/ted-cruz-obamacare/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```