President Barack Obama made his way back to the White House Tuesday in an attempt to boost President Joe Biden's dismal approval ratings and to celebrate the 12th anniversary of Obamacare.
It’s an honor to welcome my friend President @BarackObama back to the White House. I look forward to discussing the big step we’re announcing today that would expand coverage under the Affordable Care Act for families and lower health care costs for hardworking Americans. pic.twitter.com/FkLnkB96Jt
— President Biden (@POTUS) April 5, 2022
But while Obama and Biden celebrate the government takeover of America's healthcare system, it's important to look back at what really happened at the time Obamacare was signed.
There was zero compromise. Obamacare was passed in the dead of night without a single Republican vote. Dozens of House Democrats voted against it. Pelosi said we had to "pass it to see what's in it." https://t.co/HyI8mhSRTr
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) April 5, 2022
Before Obamacare was passed in the dead of night without a single Republican vote, Obama told the American people that if they "like their plan, they can keep their plan. Period." That was a lie and millions of Americans lost their plans after the monster legislation was passed.
"President Obama repeatedly assured Americans that after the Affordable Care Act became law, people who liked their health insurance would be able to keep it. But millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years," NBC News reported in October 2013. "Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act tell NBC NEWS that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter or the equivalent over the next year because their existing policies don’t meet the standards mandated by the new health care law. One expert predicts that number could reach as high as 80 percent. And all say that many of those forced to buy pricier new policies will experience 'sticker shock.'"
In fact, Obama's statement was so false it was deemed the "lie of the year" by Politifact.
PolitiFact has named "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it," the Lie of the Year for 2013. Readers in a separate online poll overwhelmingly agreed with the choice.
Obama’s ideas on health care were first offered as general outlines then grew into specific legislation over the course of his presidency. Yet Obama never adjusted his rhetoric to give people a more accurate sense of the law’s real-world repercussions, even as fact-checkers flagged his statements as exaggerated at best.