If nothing else I am
tenacious, after just under 8 years I finely found something that I can side on
with you republicans about your president!
Of all of the good
things we can and should talk about,
he is not a singer,
"Praise
God."
He is a lot better
at singing
"Amazing
Grace"
then I will ever be,
"Thank-God!"
and
"GOD thank you
for blessing our president!"
and
"God bless
America!"
On March 23, 2010, I
sat down at a table in the East Room of the White House and signed my name on a
law that said, once and for all, that health care would no longer be a
privilege for a few.
It would be a right
for everyone.
Five years later,
after more than 50 votes in Congress to repeal or weaken this law and multiple
challenges before the Supreme Court, here is what we know today:
This law worked.
It's still working.
It has changed and
saved American lives.
It has set this
country on a smarter, stronger course.
And it's here to stay.
This morning, the
Supreme Court upheld one of the most critical parts of health reform -- the
part that has made it easier for Americans to afford health insurance, no
matter where you live.
If the challenges to
this law had succeeded, millions would have had thousands of dollars in tax
credits taken away.
Insurance would have
once again become unaffordable for many Americans.
Many would have even
become uninsured again. Ultimately, everyone's premiums could have gone up.
Because of this law,
and because of today's decision, millions of Americans will continue to receive
the tax credits that have given about 8 in 10 people who buy insurance on the
new Health Insurance Marketplaces the choice of a health care plan that costs
less than $100 a month.
If you're a parent,
you can keep your kids on your plan until they turn 26 -- something that has
covered millions of young people so far.
That's because of
this law.
If you're a senior,
or have a disability, this law gives you discounts on your prescriptions --
something that has saved 9 million Americans an average of $1,600 so far.
If you're a woman,
you can't be charged more than anybody else -- even if you've had cancer, or
your husband had heart disease, or just because you're a woman.
Your insurer has to
offer free preventive services like mammograms.
They can't place
annual or lifetime caps on your care.
And when it comes to
preexisting conditions -- someday, our grandkids will ask us if there was
really a time when America discriminated against people who got sick.
Because that's
something this law has ended for good.
Five years in and
more than 16 million insured Americans later, this is no longer just about a
law. This isn't just about the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
Today is a victory
for every American whose life will continue to become more secure because of
this law.
And 20, 30, 50 years
from now, most Americans may not know what "Obamacare" is.
And that's okay.
That's the point.
Because today, this
reform remains what it always has been -- a set of fairer rules and tougher
protections that have made health care in America more affordable, more
attainable, and more about you.
That's who we are as
Americans.
We look out for one
another.
We take care of each
other.
We root for one
another's success.
We strive to do
better, to be better, than the generation before us, and we try to build
something better for the generation that comes behind us.
And today, with this
behind us, let's come together and keep building something better.
That starts right
now.
Thank you,
President Barack
Obama