--- title: Obamacare Repeal: Read President Obama's Statement description: President Obama broke his relative silence since leaving office to tout the Affordable Care Act on its seventh anniversary. canonical: https://time.com/4710841/obamacare-repeal-barack-obama-statement/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-23T14:37:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T08:21:49.370Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read Barack Obama's Statement on the Anniversary of Obamacare og:description: "Thanks to this law, more than twenty million Americans have gained the security and peace of mind of health insurance." og:url: https://time.com/4710841/obamacare-repeal-barack-obama-statement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb780e6c729155373/6988bfa5a988ca1a8c6bb749/gettyimages-97969576.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: U.S. President Barack Obama is applauded after signing the Affordable Health Care for America Act during a ceremony with fellow Democrats in the East Room of the White House March 23, 2010 in Washington, DC. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Barack Obama's Statement on the Anniversary of Obamacare twitter:description: "Thanks to this law, more than twenty million Americans have gained the security and peace of mind of health insurance." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb780e6c729155373/6988bfa5a988ca1a8c6bb749/gettyimages-97969576.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Barack Obama's Statement on the Anniversary of 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=002c7c7a-60f6-4e8a-b8a2-68ee8b922ac9&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 10 Days That Define the Obama Presidency: The Affordable Care Act [Watch (HLS stream): 10 Days That Define the Obama Presidency: The Affordable Care Act](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/S8hGNLNB.m3u8) (2:35)  _Published 2017-01-12. As President Obama's two terms in office come to a close, TIME is taking a look back at the most pivotal moments of his presidency._ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 23, 2017 2:37 PM UTC by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 23, 2017 2:37 PM UTC President Obama broke his relative silence since leaving office to tout the Affordable Care Act on its seventh anniversary—coincidentally, the same day that the House of Representatives is [scheduled to try to repeal large chunks of the law](http://time.com/4710735/republican-health-care-repeal-bill-obamacare/). “Thanks to this law, more than twenty million Americans have gained the security and peace of mind of health insurance,” he said. When he left the White House, Obama said that he would try to [“find ways to help people,”](http://time.com/4617422/barack-obama-private-citizen-after-white-house/) and try not to get too involved in the daily push-and-pull of politics except to defend [“our values and our ideals.”](https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2016-11-21/obama-i-might-call-out-donald-trump-after-leaving-the-white-house) He previously [spoke out against President Trump’s travel ban](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-in-a-rare-move-for-an-ex-president-breaks-silence-to-criticize-trump-on-immigration/2017/01/30/2d221bca-e72d-11e6-80c2-30e57e57e05d%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.e7e0fc849ef3) on seven Muslim-majority countries. The statement released Thursday morning skirts that line. Without referencing the current effort by Republicans to repeal the law directly, Obama said that the fight to pass the Affordable Care Act was “about whether we look out for one another, as neighbors, and fellow citizens.” “This fight is still about all that today,” he says. “And Americans who love their country still have the power to change it.” Read the full statement below: --- > “” --- ## Transcript Today after almost a century of try, today after over a year of debate, today after all the votes have been tallied health insurance perform become law in the United States of America. Where the central Promises of Obama's 2008 campaign was to, in a way, complete the American social safety net, specifically for American's who were working, were not necessarily poor, but who could not afford health insurance and therefore didn't have regular medical care. This is something that most other Western nations Provide their citizens with, what the US hasn't historically. And he did this with a massive bill that did that and many other things. Since in the 1960s when medicare and medicate past which basically guaranteed healthcare for the poor and for the elderly, it has been a priority of democratic leaders going back decades To try and extend that to working people. And so when Obama came on the scene, he was really promising to complete this generation long democratic project. He was able to do it because the win in 2008 had been so grand. It had been such a big win. So for a time, we have a filibuster proof majority In the Senate. He had large majorities in the house. Most americans didn't really understand all the parts of Obamacare. It was a very complicated bill. But they had strong feelings. And those feelings tended to follow their political leanings. They were conservative Republican. They were concerned. It looked like government expansion overreach. They were liberal and fans of the president They embraced it. [ UNKNOWN ] For years, the American people have been calling on Washington, to build a bridge away from Obamacare. The story of republican opposition to Obamacare, isn't about Obamacare. It's about the way Republicans decided to oppose President Barack Obama from the very beginning. They lost the ability in some way to shape the legislation to make it more palatable. But they decided that political opposition made permanent campaign was more beneficial that [ UNKNOWN ]. And the biggest strangers, the most visible ones are the ones that are almost certain to stay but even president- elect Donald Trump wants to keep around are we a very popular visitations around children and the young girls staying at their parents house [ UNKNOWN ]. And they'd be getting rid of pre- existing conditions. That was a tremendous change and really just, a dramatic rethinking of a way insurance has been carried out in this country. 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