--- description: President Obama broke his relative silence since leaving office to tout the Affordable Care Act on its seventh anniversary. title: Read Barack Obama's Statement on the Anniversary of Obamacare image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb780e6c729155373/6988bfa5a988ca1a8c6bb749/gettyimages-97969576.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read Barack Obama's Statement on the Anniversary of Obamacare by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 23, 2017 2:37 PM CUT  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. 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.Win McNamee—Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 23, 2017 2:37 PM CUT 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/ "undefined"). “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/ "undefined") 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 "undefined") 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 "undefined") 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: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4710841/obamacare-repeal-barack-obama-statement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4710841/obamacare-repeal-barack-obama-statement/"},"headline":"Read Barack Obama's Statement on the Anniversary of Obamacare","datePublished":"2017-03-23T14:37:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:00:01.653Z","description":"President Obama broke his relative silence since leaving office to tout the Affordable Care Act on its seventh anniversary.","url":"https://time.com/4710841/obamacare-repeal-barack-obama-statement/","keywords":["Health Care","Obamacare","Congress","Barack Obama","Affordable Care Act","White House","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb780e6c729155373/6988bfa5a988ca1a8c6bb749/gettyimages-97969576.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb780e6c729155373/6988bfa5a988ca1a8c6bb749/gettyimages-97969576.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"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.","caption":"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.","creditText":"Win McNamee—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":"https://time.com/4710841/obamacare-repeal-barack-obama-statement/","name":"Read Barack Obama's Statement on the Anniversary of Obamacare"}}]}] ```