{"id":116728,"date":"2021-03-23T23:46:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T06:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=116728"},"modified":"2021-03-23T23:46:00","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T06:46:00","slug":"president-biden-on-the-anniversary-of-the-affordable-care-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=116728","title":{"rendered":"President Biden on the Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230; 5:26 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, almost getting into evening. Before I begin, as the congresswoman said, earlier today at the White House, I addressed the mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado. While the investigation is ongoing \u2014 and I spent time on the telephone with the Attorney General, as well as the head of the FBI, this \u2014 the investigation is still ongoing.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0V-NTJsKy8E\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>My heart goes out to the families of the victims and the survivors.  I want to \u2014 I want to commend the heroic actions of Officer Eric Talley \u2014 the father of seven children, who left for work yesterday morning assuming he\u2019d be able to go home \u2014 and for the ultimate sacrifice for others.<\/p>\n<p>Now, let me turn to why I came today: to talk about, initially, the American Rescue Plan and the progress we\u2019re making on tackling COVID.  Tameka, thank you for sharing your stories and what you\u2019re doing \u2014 my daughter is also a social worker, and you have a profound impact on people\u2019s lives \u2014 and all you do to connect folks here in Ohio with the coverage and care they need. <\/p>\n<p>I want to thank Joyce, Congresswoman, for sticking with me during the day, and Marcy, my old friend \u2014 good to see you, Marcy.  Thanks for being here.  And Tim Ryan.  I always kid with Tim.  If you\u2019re \u2014 if I got to be in a foxhole, he\u2019s the guy I want to be with.  He always keeps his word, does exactly what he says he\u2019s going to do.  And it\u2019s great seeing you, Tim.  My best to the family. <\/p>\n<p>And Madam President, thanks for having served in the Obama-Biden administration, and you\u2019re doing an incredible job here.<\/p>\n<p>And all of the docs that are here that I got a chance to meet with today: Thank you.  You are \u2014 you\u2019re an incredible group of individuals.<\/p>\n<p>I also want thank Sherrod Brown \u2014 who wanted to be here today, but he had to be in Washington to cast important votes in the United States Senate.<\/p>\n<p>Look, I want everyone to be aware that there are three key parts to the American Rescue Plan all of my colleagues supported here.  First, we\u2019re going to more rapidly acquire \u2014 and we set out to more rapidly acquire enough vaccine to vaccinate every single American quicker than anticipated.<\/p>\n<p>And what my COVID team and \u2014 went through \u2014 and with the use of the Defense Production Act, we\u2019ve been able to organize and help increase the number of doses in a much shorter time.<\/p>\n<p>So, by the end of May, we\u2019re going to have on hand roughly 600 million doses \u2014 enough for every American.  And the American Rescue Plan is also going to provide the funding for more vaccinations, vaccination sites, vaccinators, and the paraphernalia needed to put that vaccine in one\u2019s arm. <\/p>\n<p>In addition, there is a second important piece of that plan.  It\u2019s focused on dealing with the economic deprivation so many Americans have become subject to \u2014 a consequence to this virus through no fault of their own.  Millions have lost their jobs, and they\u2019re still out of work.  Around 11 million children in America are going hungry through no fault of their own.  But as a result of the pandemic and the economic crisis, millions of Americans are not able to maintain their mortgage payments or rental payments and have found themselves on the verge of being evicted and having their homes repossessed.<\/p>\n<p>But we stepped in, and we prevented that from happening with the American Rescue Plan.  Hundreds of thousands of businesses are now \u2014 not going to go under, but they\u2019re going to have an idea \u2014 an opportunity to reopen and have the financial assistance to be able to do it the right way and safely.<\/p>\n<p>Schools closed and children losing up to a year or more in learning capacity.  You\u2019re ahead of the (inaudible) here in Ohio, but, across the nation, the help was badly needed, and we\u2019ve now provided the funding for that.<\/p>\n<p>Because of isolation \u2014 and violence against women is up; abuse of children is up \u2014 and the need for mental health problems \u2014 to deal with mental health problems and the consequence of them is up, as a consequence of COVID.  And, in addition to that, suicides are up. <\/p>\n<p>The second \u2014 so, second, the American Rescue Plan brings relief to a population that is badly hurting.  And one more element of our response is that \u2014 first and foremost, is the commitment to get Americans a $1,400 check per person, including per child.  So, a firefighter and school teacher making $120,000 combined, with two kids, are going to get a $5,6000 in cash.<\/p>\n<p>If they already have an account online with the IRS, which many do, by tomorrow, we will have distributed 100 million of those checks just since the legislation passed.  We\u2019re on the verge of doing that as of tomorrow.  But for someone who doesn\u2019t have direct deposit, they\u2019re getting a check in the mail for all of that. <\/p>\n<p>So we expand the child \u2014 we also expanded the Childcare Tax Credit.  Right now, if you file your federal income tax, you\u2019ll get to a $2,000 deduction for every child you have.  But if you\u2019re making the minimum wage, you don\u2019t earn enough to file for federal taxes.  But because of the American Rescue Plan, if you have two children, for example, under the age of six, you\u2019re going to get a check for $3,600 if you have a child.  And so, if you have two children, $7,200 will be paid on a monthly basis.  This is going to be life changing.  It\u2019s estimated this will do more to end child poverty in America than anything we\u2019ve ever done. <\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s the Earned Income Tax Credit.  If you are over the age of 19 and not a fulltime student and you are a childless worker, now you will get a check for $1,500 if you file. <\/p>\n<p>Small businesses not only will be able to borrow money to keep business afloat, but get loan forgiveness in improving your business to get us back in the game.<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, all of this \u2014 economists left, right, and center argue and acknowledge \u2014 will create 7 million more jobs and increase economic growth.  Increase economic growth.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s so much more, but help is here.  But I\u2019m here in this great hospital to talk about a third way to help.  And that is for your health \u2014 the third type of help, and that\u2019s healthcare.<\/p>\n<p>I just concluded a tour of the Radiation Oncology Department here at the James Cancer Center, which was expanded thanks to a $100 million grant in the Affordable Care Act that Sherrod Brown was instrumental in making happen.  That\u2019s in addition to the research funding Ohio State received under the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot. <\/p>\n<p>Because of our investments, this department has gone from being able to treat 60 to 70 patients a day to nearly 300 a day.  This place is a source of hope. <\/p>\n<p>I have said that I want to \u2014 when I ran, I said I wanted to be a President who would preside over the end of cancer as we know it. <\/p>\n<p>And when we see the strides we\u2019ve made \u2014 you talk to the docs and researchers \u2014 I can tell you, it\u2019s within our reach.  We\u2019re all benefited from the breakthroughs pioneered by the Defense Department, for example, research agency called DARPA, which helped bring us everything from the Internet to GPS.<\/p>\n<p>Well, I\u2019m going to be proposing to my friends in Congress that we launch a similar operation at the Department of \u2014 at the Department of Health \u2014 a new effort called \u201cARPA-H\u201d \u2014 to deliver health breakthroughs to find cures for cancer and other diseases by investing billions of dollars that companies are not willing to do \u2014 drug companies are not \u2014 don\u2019t have the capacity.  And I know we can do this.  And I know we can find great breakthroughs. <\/p>\n<p>America does big things.  Eleven years ago today, President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act \u2014 historic achievement that would not have been possible but for the vision and determination of one of the most successful Presidents in recent American history: Barack Obama. <\/p>\n<p>I might note, parenthetically, when I got in the automobile to go over to the \u2014 to the \u2014 to HHS, he was laughing.  I didn\u2019t know what he was laughing about.  And he said, \u201cDid you hear?  They picked up what you said on the mic.\u201d  All I could think was, \u201cThank God my mother wasn\u2019t around to hear it.\u201d  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But, look, on this anniversary, we should remember just how close we have come to losing that act we so fought so hard for.  And we have a duty not just to protect it, but to make it better and keep becoming a nation where healthcare is a right for all and not a privilege for a few.<\/p>\n<p>When I ran for pro- \u2014 for President, I promised I would build on the foundation of the Affordable Care Act.  And just 50 days into my administration, we\u2019ve delivered on that promise with the American Rescue Plan.  It does that by making healthcare more affordable.  It means better coverage and lower premiums for millions of Americans.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re enrolled in Obamacare, you\u2019re going to save an average of $50 a month \u2014 $600 a year \u2014 by the reduction of payments.  For a family of four earning $90,000 a year, that could save you $200 a month in savings.  For a 60-year-old couple here in Ohio earning $75,000 per year, it could save them about $1,000 per month and to maintain the same healthcare.  That\u2019s $12,000 a year in your pocket that you didn\u2019t have before.<\/p>\n<p>Because of the American Rescue Plan, if you lost healthcare because you lost your job or your hours were cut, we pay your contribution and your employer\u2019s contribution under the so-called COBRA.  That\u2019s what your employer-based health insurance was.  And so since \u2014 if they\u2019ve gone out of business or you\u2019re no longer there because you had to be laid off, you can stay covered for up to six months until you get back on your feet, because, look, the federal government will cover both ends of that COBRA payment.<\/p>\n<p>For millions who are out of work and have no coverage, thanks to this law, there\u2019s an Obamacare plan that most folks can get with zero-dollar premiums.  Co-pays will still be there, but zero-dollar premiums.<\/p>\n<p>Four out of five Americans shopping on the Obamacare marketplace can get quality healthcare with a premium of $10 a month or less.  Let me say that again: Four out of five Americans who shop for a plan will find one for $10 or less per month.  It\u2019s especially important in communities that historically have gone without insurance at higher rates.  Very few communities that have always faced health disparities \u2014 Black, Brown, and Asian, Native American communities \u2014 have borne the brunt of the COVID crisis.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re also making it easy to \u2014 easier to sign up for Obamacare.  We\u2019ve opened Healthcare.gov for special enrollment on February the 15th.  In the first two weeks alone, more than 200,000 Americans gained coverage.<\/p>\n<p>Today I\u2019m pleased to announce that we\u2019ve extended that period to run through August the 15th.  Just go to HealthCare.gov or call the national hotline: 1-800-318-2596.  That\u2019s 1-800-318-2596.  A few clicks and a short conversation \u2014 that\u2019s all it takes to start seeing these benefits of increased coverage and lower premiums.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll close with this: With the American Rescue Plan and the Affordable Care Act, millions of families will be able to sleep a little more soundly at night because they don\u2019t have to worry about losing everything if they get sick. <\/p>\n<p>I, like many of you, grew up in a middle-class \u2014 I guess, technically, lower-middle-class \u2014 household based on outcome.  We lived in a three-bedroom split-level home with four kids and our grandpop living with us.  And the paper \u2014 the walls were paper-thin.  I can remember lying in bed and hearing my dad rolling back and forth, and I could tell there was something wrong.  I remember asking my mom the next morning, \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter with Dad?\u201d  She said, \u201cHoney, he\u2019s just worried.  We just lost our health insurance.  He no longer has his coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>People lying in bed wondering, \u201cMy God, what happens?  What happens if, in fact, I get sick?  What happens if I turn and she has breast cancer or I end up with a heart condition?  What happens?\u201d  And God forbid you\u2019re sitting on the edge of a hospital bed with someone you love \u2014 like I did with my son, Beau, as he was dying, and all you have to think about is \u2014 all they have they have to think about is getting better, not what happens if an insurance company can come in, like they did before Obamacare, and say, \u201cSorry, you\u2019ve outrun your coverage.\u201d  I used to sit there and think, \u201cMy God, what would happen?  What would I do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the difference.  And we\u2019re going to keep building until every American has that peace of mind and to show that our government can fulfill its most essential purpose: to care for and protect the American people.  When we work together, we can do big things, important things, necessary things. <\/p>\n<p>We saw it 11 years ago with the Affordable Care Act.  We saw it 11 days ago when we marked the signing of the American Rescue Plan.  But we\u2019re not done yet.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, we met my goal that I announced of administering 100 million shots in my first 100 days in office.  At the time, the press said that\u2019s awfully \u201caudacious.\u201d  Now that we\u2019ve done it in 58 days, they\u2019re saying, \u201cBoy, he sure set the bar awful low.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Well, this week, we\u2019re announcing a new goal: to get more people vaccinated.  But we need all Americans to keep washing your hands, staying socially distanced, and wearing the mask when you\u2019re in public, as recommended by the CDC.  And get vaccinated when it\u2019s your turn.  It\u2019s a patriotic responsibility you have.<\/p>\n<p>Now is not the time to let down our guard.  If we all do our part, after a long, dark year, we can show once again that we are the United States of America; that there\u2019s nothing we have \u2014 cannot do if we do it together.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re going to beat this pandemic.  And because of the great docs up this staircase here, we\u2019re going to beat cancer as we know it as well.  We\u2019re going to make sure, once and for all, that healthcare is a right, not a privilege, in this nation.<\/p>\n<p>So I want to say to, again, the docs who spent the day with me, all the incredible work you\u2019re doing \u2014 I told them that when my son contracted stage four glioblastoma when coming home from Iraq \u2014 when he was in Iraq, that I had the opportunity \u2014 the President asked me to do what they called a Cancer Moonshoot. <\/p>\n<p>I put together an organization made up of seven Nobel laureates, as well as another 30 docs in the cancer field, and I was able to go and visit every major cancer facility in the world save one.  And we have some of the finest minds in the world, and they\u2019re right here \u2014 right here at Ohio State \u2014 Ohio State.  Right here in Ohio, right here in the United States of America.  And they break their necks every single day for us.  We owe them.<\/p>\n<p>I want to thank you all.  May God bless you.  May God bless us all and may God protect our troops.  Thank you.  Thank you for the hospitality.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>5:42 P.M. EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230; 5:26 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, almost getting into evening. Before I begin, as the congresswoman said, earlier today at the White House, I addressed the mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado. While the investigation is ongoing \u2014 and I spent time on the telephone with the Attorney General, as well as the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1599,"featured_media":13330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,149,5,4,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-financial","category-government","category-life-style","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/whitehouselogo200.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1599"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=116728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=116728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=116728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=116728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}