--- title: Health Care Bill: President Barack Obama Weighs In description: President Barack Obama is urging lawmakers to "step back and measure what’s really at stake" when considering a new health bill. canonical: https://time.com/4829343/barack-obama-senate-healthcare-bill/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-22T20:17:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:19:47.952Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read Barack Obama’s Statement on GOP Health Plan og:description: 'This bill will do you harm' og:url: https://time.com/4829343/barack-obama-senate-healthcare-bill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt996e144ff156debe/6988d2ef096a9434a869e7b3/gettyimages-6884063541.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3969 og:image:height: 2233 og:image:alt: German Media Award 2016 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Barack Obama’s Statement on GOP Health Plan twitter:description: 'This bill will do you harm' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt996e144ff156debe/6988d2ef096a9434a869e7b3/gettyimages-6884063541.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'This Bill Will Do You Harm.’ Read Barack Obama’s Statement on GOP Health Plan > 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=ac150c3d-d7ea-4ad7-8331-8817fa5d361a&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 [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jun 22, 2017 8:17 PM UTC  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jun 22, 2017 8:17 PM UTC [President Barack Obama](http://time.com/4821085/obama-jay-z-songwriters-hall-fame/) is urging lawmakers to “step back and measure what’s really at stake” when considering a [health care bill proposed Thursday](http://time.com/4827805/senate-republican-health-care-obamacare-ahca-draft/?xid=homepage) by Senate Republicans. The measure would replace the [Affordable Care Act](http://time.com/4755983/ahca-health-care-lawmakers-congress-exempt/), a crowning achievement of Obama’s tenure. Describing the bill in a [Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/barackobama/posts/10154996557026749) as “a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America,” Obama encouraged the Senate to put Americans’ well-being over partisan politics. “I recognize that repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act has become a core tenet of the [Republican Party.](http://time.com/4713720/john-oliver-on-republicans/) Still, I hope that our Senators, many of whom I know well, step back and measure what’s really at stake, and consider that the rationale for action, on health care or any other issue, must be something more than simply undoing something that Democrats did,” Obama wrote. Read Obama’s 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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