Obama touts health gains
MILWAUKEE — President Barack Obama trumpeted the nation’s declining uninsured rate Thursday and said 20 million people have gained insurance as a result of his signature health care law as he commemorated the approaching sixth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act.
Obama criticized Republicans for trying to “repeal or undermine” the act about 60 times and said they’ve explained what they would replace it with “about zero times.”
“If they got their way, 20 million people will have their insurance taken away from them,” Obama said.
Congratulating local leaders in Wisconsin for winning a national health insurance enrollment contest, Obama acknowledged that millions more are eligible to enroll but have yet to do so.
Obama was introduced at the event by Brent Brown of Mosinee, Wis., who said he’s a Republican who never voted to elect Obama and worked to ensure he would not be president. But he said the health care law saved his life after he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and ran out of money for treatment.
Brown called on Republicans to quit trying to repeal the law. “Swallow your pride as I am doing right now,” he said.
More than 38,000 Milwaukee-area residents have newly signed up for health coverage, out of about 51,000 uninsured people who were eligible to enroll. The city’s sign-up ratio was the highest among the 20 cities competing in the president’s “Healthy Communities Challenge.” The winning city was promised a visit by the president.
“All told, counting new folks and people renewing their coverage, you got nearly 90,000 people to sign up,” Obama said. “That’s enough to fill Lambeau Field and still have a big tailgating party with folks outside..” Lambeau Field is the home of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers.
Obama also faulted Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker for refusing federal funding to expand Medicaid, an option given to states under the law, to help cover more people. Obama said 21,000 additional state residents would be covered “with the stroke of his pen.”
“He’s denying Wisconsinites their ticket to health insurance and it’s political,” Obama said of Walker, who dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination last year. Walker has argued that the federal government can’t be trusted to keep its funding commitment to the states.
