President Plans Speech Thursday to Tout ‘Obamacare’

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama on Thursday will tout the benefits of the Affordable Care Act to a skeptical public during a speech at the White House as part of an effort to build support for the health law in the face of continued Republican efforts to block it.

Mr. Obama’s chief spokesman, Jay Carney, said the speech will focus on how the health law, commonly called “Obamacare,” is helping keeping health-insurance rates low and resulting in rebates to some Americans. The speech is set to start at 11:25 a.m. ( Issa's Oversight Comm Hearing on the IRS Scandal starts at 11:30 am today. ) The IRS Goes to Washington

The White House estimates that 8.5 million Americans will get rebates as a result of the law, averaging about $100 per family. These rebates are triggered when existing customers’ insurance companies don’t spend a certain amount of premiums on health care or efforts to improve health quality. Large group plans are required to spend at least 85% of premiums on these areas while small group or individual plans need to spend at least 80%.

“This is just one of the many ways the Affordable Care Act is giving consumers a better value for their health care dollar and making our health care system stronger,” Mr. Carney said. He also criticized Republicans for trying to repeal the law. By doing so, he said, Republicans are voting to make Americans with pre-existing conditions worry whether they’ll be able to get health-insurance coverage.

The speech comes shortly after the administration said it would delay enforcing a provision of the new health-care law that requires large employers to provide coverage for workers or pay a penalty in 2014. Republicans have been using that delay to press the administration to delay other parts of the law.

Mr. Obama’s health care law remains unpopular, a number of Wall Street Journal/NBC News polls show. In an April survey, some 45% of respondents called the law a “bad idea,’’ while 36% called it a “good idea.’’ Some 49% said they favored eliminating the law, while 42% said they opposed repeal.

Elsewhere Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that individual insurance plans for New York consumers next year will carry premiums at least 50% lower than those currently available, as provisions of the health law take effect and far more people enter the insurance marketplace.

Mr. Carney made clear the White House was pleased by the report, which was earlier reported in Wednesday’s New York Times. “I was just rereading for the pure enjoyment the article above the fold in the New York Times today about projected decline in health care premiums. I highly recommend it.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/07/17...tout-obamacare/