After five years, Barack Obama returned to the White House on Tuesday and addressed Joe Biden as Vice-President. Then he said that it was a joke with the current President and current vice president by his side and then hugged Biden. He then added that it was all a set-up.
The former President was in the White House to attend the 12th anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act and fix an issue the act called a family glitch. In the address at the East Room, he commented on the changes that happened at the White House in a light-hearted manner.
He then commented on the difficulty of passing the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare. He recounted how both he and Biden, then vice-president, on the campaign trail met many people and were able to listen to their stories. He then said that he was determined to pass the act no matter how it would affect his re-election, which looked it might.
He said that it was the primary aim of his presidency. When Biden came up to speak, he joined Obama’s joke by welcoming him back and addressing himself as vice-president of Obama. Then he signed the new executive order on healthcare. He later shared the photo with his former colleague.
Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Obamacare, is a federal act passed by United States Congress and signed into law by then-President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. This and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 amendment are considered the most significant regulatory overhaul and expansion of coverage in the US healthcare system since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.
Major provisions of the act came to force in 2014. Because of this, the uninsured share of the population had halved, covering 20 to 24 million additional people. After it was implemented, the increases in overall healthcare spending slowed, including premiums for employer-based insurance plans.
The act required that all Americans purchase or obtain health insurance within a year’s enrolment period. It also prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage or charging excess due to pre-existing conditions.
The act was designed to reduce the cost of health insurance coverage for people who qualify for it. It includes premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions that will lower expenses for lower-income individuals and families. But there was a problem with the act. The workers offered affordable and adequate employer-sponsored coverage cannot receive premium assistance, as the premium crosses 9.83% of the employee’s household income.
To avail of subsidy, the employee’s share of the premium should not exceed 9.83% of their family income. As a result, the worker’s family is not covered by the act’s aid. This contentious part is called a family glitch. Because of this, it has created a system that only considers coverage costs for individuals rather than families.
Tuesday’s event was to solve this issue, which was long demanded by many. It is to be initiated from January 1, 2023. Because of this issue, 85% of people had to pay more for health insurance than families covered by the act.