Barack Obama Revisits White House To Push Healthcare Bill, Makes Few Jokes Remembering "Good Old Days" With Joe Biden

Former President Barack Obama paid his first visit to the White House since leaving office in January 2017 on Tuesday to celebrate a new policy that increases coverage under the Affordable Care Act, his major domestic policy success.

In the East Room, Obama remarked smoothly, "Vice President Biden," an introduction he insisted was a joke. The visit provided an opportunity for Obama and Biden to indulge in some light ribbing that, by today's Washington standards, seemed rather quaint.

Obama Tackles Healthcare Bill With Joe Biden

The groundbreaking bill, dubbed as Obamacare and adopted in 2010, was beset by a perplexing implementation, which featured a buggy website. Republicans, including President Donald J. Trump, saw the law as a great target for repeal. Democrats suffered significant losses in the 2010 midterm elections, and they have been unable to reclaim comfortable Senate advantages since then.

The Biden White House revealed a new strategy on Tuesday that will solve one of the healthcare law's largest coverage gaps. The change, which is being suggested as a new regulation, would allow relatives of individuals with employer-sponsored health insurance to qualify for financial aid if they purchase insurance on the Obamacare markets.

The health legislation limits access to those subsidies who had affordable work-based insurance, and earlier interpretations have ruled that their relatives were likewise disqualified, even if their company did not provide an inexpensive family plan, as per The New York Times.

Obama, Biden Tout New Provision

The Affordable Care Act, according to Biden, is the most important piece of legislation since Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965, and it must be expanded to include more people. Biden and Obama commemorated the law's 12th anniversary, which was made famous by Biden's remark to Obama in 2010 that it was a "huge (expletive) deal," comments recorded on an open microphone.

Obama got the crowd going with a few deadpan jokes about how things had changed around the White House under Biden, riffing on the current occupant's love of sunglasses and ice cream, as well as his taste in pets.

Three Supreme Court decisions have bolstered "Obamacare's" staying power, as has the late Sen. John McCain's strong thumbs-down vote, which snuffed out then-President Trump's efforts to repeal and replace it.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden opened up the health insurance markets to anybody seeking coverage, and his coronavirus relief bill gave a large, if temporary, increase in financial support. As a consequence, a new high of 14.5 million individuals has signed up for subsidized private insurance.

Dependents of employees who receive an offer of workplace coverage that the government regards as affordable are tripped up by the family glitch. People with inexpensive workplace coverage are often ineligible for ACA-subsidized plans, according to ABC News.

Republicans attempted but failed to repeal the legislation several times, notably during the Trump administration's early months in 2017. Even though ObamaCare has risen in favor, it has functioned as a primary attack line for Republicans on the campaign trail. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll conducted in March 2022, 55 percent of the population approved of the bill.

Biden has embraced the law as part of his agenda, advocating for subsidies through the American Rescue Plan and signing executive orders to increase access. At the conclusion of his speech, Obama alluded to the party impasse that has engulfed Washington, DC, since his tenure as president, The Hill reported.