Health Care

Obama urges ObamaCare signups ahead of deadline

Former President Barack Obama on Monday urged people to sign up for ObamaCare ahead of Friday’s deadline and denounced Republican efforts to roll back the law.

Obama joined a call with navigators and volunteers who help people sign up for coverage under the law, his office said, and made an appeal on Twitter and Facebook.

Obama, who has largely stayed out of the fight this year over repealing the law, also got in some criticism of the Republican tax bill, which would repeal the health law’s mandate that most people have health insurance. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that would result in 13 million fewer people with coverage over a decade.

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“Now, sadly, we’ve had Republicans in Washington doing their best to try to sabotage the progress that’s been made and to discourage, in many cases, people from signing up,” Obama said on the call, according to a transcript provided by his office. “They’re still trying to repeal key parts of the law that includes coverage for 13 million Americans and would result in higher premiums for millions more people. This is all to finance a massive tax break for corporations that have seen record profits.”

He also pointed to the Trump administration’s cutbacks in advertising and outreach.

“So far, we’ve gotten more people covered this year than in past years, which is incredible given that there’s been so little advertising or outreach from some official quarters to remind people when and how they should get covered,” Obama said.

Many experts are expecting a dropoff in enrollment compared to past years, in part because of confusion and cutbacks in outreach from Washington. The final picture will not be clear until after this Friday’s deadline to enroll, though, and there is substantial uncertainty.

Tags Barack Obama

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