the president: goodmorning, everybody. have a seat. five years ago, after nearlya century of talk, decades of trying, a year ofbipartisan debate -- we finally declared that inamerica, health care is not a privilege for a few,but a right for all. over those five years, aswe've worked to implement the affordable care act,there have been successes and setbacks.
the setbacks iremember clearly. (laughter) but as the dusthas settled, there can be no doubt that thislaw is working. it has changed, and in somecases saved, american lives. it set this country on asmarter, stronger course. and today, after more than50 votes in congress to repeal or weaken thislaw; after a presidential election based in part onpreserving or repealing this
law; after multiplechallenges to this law before the supreme court --the affordable care act is here to stay. this morning, the courtupheld a critical part of this law -- the part that'smade it easier for americans to afford health insuranceregardless of where you live. if the partisan challengeto this law had succeeded, millions of americans wouldhave had thousands of dollars' worth of taxcredits taken from them.
for many, insurance wouldhave become unaffordable again. many would have becomeuninsured again. ultimately, everyone'spremiums could have gone up. america would havegone backwards. and that's not what we do. that's not whatamerica does. we move forward. so today is a victory forhardworking americans all across this country whoselives will continue to
become more secure in achanging economy because of this law. if you're a parent, you cankeep your kids on your plan until they turn 26 --something that has covered millions of youngpeople so far. that's because of this law. if you're a senior, or anamerican with a disability, this law gives you discountson your prescriptions -- something that has saved 9million americans an average
of $1,600 so far. if you're a woman, you can'tbe charged more than anybody else -- even if you've hadcancer, or your husband had heart disease, or justbecause you're a woman. your insurer has to offerfree preventive services like mammograms. they can't place annual orlifetime caps on your care because of this law. because of this law, andbecause of today's decision,
millions of americans who ihear from every single day will continue to receive thetax credits that have given about eight in ten peoplewho buy insurance on the new marketplaces the choice of ahealth care plan that costs less than $100 a month. and when it comes topreexisting conditions -- someday, our grandkids willask us if there was really a time when americadiscriminated against people who get sick.
because that is somethingthis law has ended for good. that affects everybody withhealth insurance -- not just folks who got insurancethrough the affordable care act. all of america hasprotections it didn't have before. as the law's provisions havegradually taken effect, more than 16 million uninsuredamericans have gained coverage so far. nearly one in threeamericans who was uninsured
a few years agois insured today. the uninsured rate inamerica is the lowest since we began to keep records. and that is somethingwe can all be proud of. meanwhile, the law hashelped hold the price of health care to its slowestgrowth in 50 years. if your family getsinsurance through your job -- so you're not using theaffordable care act -- you're still paying about$1,800 less per year on
average than you would beif we hadn't done anything. by one leading measure, whatbusiness owners pay out in wages and salaries is nowfinally growing faster than what they spend onhealth insurance. that hasn't happened in 17years -- and that's good for workers and it'sgood for the economy. the point is, this is notan abstract thing anymore. this is not a set ofpolitical talking points. this is reality.
we can see howit is working. this law is working exactlyas it's supposed to. in many ways, this law isworking better than we expected it to. for all the misinformationcampaigns, all the doomsday predictions, all the talkof death panels and job destruction, for all therepeal attempts -- this law is now helping tens ofmillions of americans. and they've told me that ithas changed their lives for
the better. i've had moms come up andsay, my son was able to see a doctor and get diagnosed,and catch a tumor early, and he's alive todaybecause of this law. this law is working. and it's going tokeep doing just that. five years in, this isno longer about a law. this is not about theaffordable care act as legislation, or obamacareas a political football.
this is healthcare in america. and unlike social securityor medicare, a lot of americans still don't knowwhat obamacare is beyond all the political noisein washington. across the country, thereremain people who are directly benefitting fromthe law but don't even know it. and that's okay. there's no card that says"obamacare" when you enroll. but that's by design, forthis has never been a
government takeover ofhealth care, despite cries to the contrary. this reform remains whatit's always been: a set of fairer rules and tougherprotections that have made health care in america moreaffordable, more attainable, and more about you -- theconsumer, the american people. it's working. and with this case behindus, let's be clear -- we've still got work to do to makehealth care in america
even better. we'll keep working toprovide consumers with all the tools you need to makeinformed choices about your care. we'll keep working toincrease the use of preventive care that avoidsbigger problems down the road. we'll keep working to boostthe steadily improving quality of care inhospitals, and bring down costs even lower, make thesystem work even better.
already we've seenreductions, for example, in the number of readmissionsat hospitals. that saves our societymoney, it saves families money, makespeople healthier. we're making progress. we're going to keep workingto get more people covered. i'm going to work as hardas i can to convince more governors and statelegislatures to take advantage of the law, putpolitics aside, and expand
medicaid and covertheir citizens. we've still got states outthere that, for political reasons, are not coveringmillions of people that they could be covering, despitethe fact that the federal government ispicking up the tab. so we've gotmore work to do. but what we're not going todo is unravel what has now been woven into thefabric of america. and my greatest hope is thatrather than keep refighting
battles that have beensettled again and again and again, i can work withrepublicans and democrats to move forward. let's join together, makehealth care in america three generations ago, wechose to end an era when seniors were left tolanguish in poverty. we passed social security,and slowly it was woven into the fabric of america andmade a difference in the lives of millions of people.
two generations ago, wechose to end an age when americans in their goldenyears didn't have the guarantee of health care. medicare was passed, and ithelped millions of people. this generation of americanschose to finish the job -- to turn the page on a pastwhen our citizens could be denied coveragejust for being sick. to close the books on ahistory where tens of millions of americans hadno hope of finding decent,
affordable health care; hadto hang their chances on fate. we chose to write a newchapter, where in a new economy, americans are freeto change their jobs or start a business, chase anew idea, raise a family, free from fear, secure inthe knowledge that portable, affordable health care isthere for us and always will be. and that if we get sick,we're not going to lose our home. that if we get sick, thatwe're going to be able to
still look afterour families. that's when america soars-- when we look out for one another. when we take careof each other. when we root for oneanother's success. when we strive to do betterand to be better than the generation that came beforeus, and try to build something better forgenerations to come. that's why we do what we do.
that's the whole pointof public service. so this was a goodday for america. let's get back to work. (applause)
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