Former President Barack Obama returned to the White House Tuesday for the first time since leaving office in 2017 to tout the benefits of his landmark health care law and support his friend and former government partner, President Joe Biden.
Obama arrived in the East Room to loud cheers from the assembled crowd of members of Congress and administration staff, commenting on the changes that had taken place in the White House since he was last there, in particular the arrival of a feline
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“There’s a cat running around,” she laughed, “so I guarantee Bo and Sunny would have been very unhappy,” referring to her family’s dogs.
Obama jokingly referred to Biden as “vice president” before correcting himself, inspiring a salute from Biden, and then lavished praise on the Affordable Care Act, which he described as passing a “highlight” of his time. in charge.
“If you can get health coverage for millions of people and better protection, it’s, to quote a famous American, a big… big deal,” Obama said to roars of laughter from the crowd, referencing a comment uploaded from Biden’s tone picked up by a hot microphone when the law was signed.
Biden, who invited Obama to lunch, joked that the two men didn’t know where to sit when they ate dinner and praised Obama for his leadership on the health care bill.
“The Affordable Care Act has been called many names, but Obamacare is the most appropriate,” Biden said.
While Obama remains a popular figure, Biden faces moribund public approval ratings thanks in part to high inflation and the lingering Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, Democrats risk losing control of at least one, if not both, houses of Congress in November, which would stall Biden’s legislative agenda.
Biden unveiled a measure to correct an element of the health care law known as the “family fault” that left relatives of those with access to employer-provided health plans ineligible for certain subsidies, and signed an order executive ordering federal agencies to do everything possible. they were able to expand health coverage.
Before signing and while finishing his comments, he joked: “Barack, I’ll remind you: it’s a hot microphone.”
Focusing on health care has helped Democrats politically in the past. Obamacare was the former president’s main legislative achievement, and Republicans have repeatedly tried to repeal it without success.
“But what the Affordable Care Act shows is that if it is driven by the core idea that, together, we can improve the lives of this generation and the next, and if it is persistent … it can have an impact on million lives. Obama said.
Obama and Biden became friends during Obama’s time in office and met for lunch weekly. Their families became close, and Obama spoke at the funeral for Biden’s son, Beau.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Obama and Biden had a long talk and a walk. “They went to check out the Oval Office and took a walk, and I know they enjoyed spending time together,” she said.
The White House said the proposed adjustment to the Affordable Care Act, laid out in a Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service rule that must be finalized, would save hundreds of dollars a month for hundreds of thousands of families.
He said “family failure” affects some 5 million people and “has made it impossible for many families to use the premium tax credit to purchase a high-quality, affordable plan from the Marketplace.”
Reference-indianexpress.com