{"id":14463,"date":"2016-01-23T15:48:38","date_gmt":"2016-01-23T23:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=14463"},"modified":"2016-01-24T08:21:46","modified_gmt":"2016-01-24T16:21:46","slug":"president-obamas-weekly-address-obamacare-making-a-difference-for-millions-of-americans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=14463","title":{"rendered":"President Obama&#8217;s Weekly Address: Obamacare Making a Difference for Millions of Americans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Hi, everybody.  When I took office seven years ago this week, more than 15% of Americans went without health insurance.  For folks who did have coverage, insurance companies could deny you coverage or charge you more just because you\u2019d been sick.  And too many Americans gave up their dreams of changing jobs or going back to school because they couldn\u2019t risk giving up their employer-based insurance plan. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HrmmBvxtdms\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve changed that.  As the Affordable Care Act has taken effect, nearly 18 million Americans have gained coverage.  In fact, for the first time ever, more than 90 percent of Americans are covered.  Up to 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied coverage or be charged more just because they\u2019ve been sick.  137 million Americans with private insurance are now guaranteed preventive care coverage.  We\u2019ve done all this while cutting our deficits and keeping health care inflation to its lowest levels in fifty years.  And we\u2019ve begun filling the gaps in employer-based care so that when we change jobs, lose a job, go back to school, or start that new business, we can still get coverage. <\/p>\n<p>If you want to know how important that is, just ask an American like Heather Bragg.<\/p>\n<p>Heather\u2019s a small business owner in Bluffton, South Carolina.  Last year, she wrote me a letter and told me how, for years, her family had depended on her husband\u2019s job for their insurance.  But thanks to the Affordable Care Act, her husband Mike had the freedom to switch jobs and join Heather at the small business she\u2019d launched a few years ago. <\/p>\n<p>Through the Health Insurance Marketplace, they found better coverage that actually saved them hundreds of dollars a month.  Today, Heather only pays about ten dollars for the asthma inhaler she needs.   \u201cFor the first time,\u201d Heather wrote, \u201cwe\u2019re not living paycheck to paycheck; we\u2019re able to pay our bills and put some money back into savings.\u201d  And because Mike doesn\u2019t have to work nights or weekends anymore, he can coach their son\u2019s soccer team and tuck the kids in at night.  And you can\u2019t put a price on something like that.<\/p>\n<p>If you haven\u2019t looked at your new coverage options, you\u2019ve still got time to get covered on the Health Insurance Marketplace for 2016.  You have until January 31 \u2013 next Sunday \u2013 to enroll.  Just go to HealthCare.gov, CuidadoDeSalud.gov, or call 1-800-318-2596.  Most folks buying a plan on the Marketplace can find an option that costs less than $75 a month.  Even if you already have insurance, take a few minutes to shop around.  In fact, consumers who switched to a new plan for 2016 ended up saving an average of more than $500. <\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what the Affordable Care Act did.  This is health care in America today.  Affordable, portable security for you and your loved ones.  It\u2019s making a difference for millions of Americans every day.  And it\u2019s only going to get better.  Thanks, and have a great weekend.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Hi, everybody. When I took office seven years ago this week, more than 15% of Americans went without health insurance. For folks who did have coverage, insurance companies could deny you coverage or charge you more just because you\u2019d been sick. And too many Americans gave up their dreams of changing jobs or going [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14465,"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":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Fullscreen-capture-1232016-34928-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14463","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}