President Barack Obama said what matters most is getting healthcare reform off the ground and getting people enrolled, not the political popularity of the Affordable Care Act, The Hill's Healthwatch reported.
"I don't have pride of authorship on this, I just want the thing to work," Obama said Tuesday.
He wants Americans to at least look at their coverage options and decide for themselves whether the law is good for them. "Because what we are confident in is that, when people look and see that they can get high-quality, affordable healthcare for less than their cell phone bill, they're going to sign up," Obama said, according to Healthwatch.
While the public remains ill-informed about how the ACA will affect them, an NBC/WSJ poll released last week showed Obama's healthcare law is still unpopular with the American public,as 44 percent called it a bad idea and 31 percent said the law is a good idea.
But Obama doesn't expect to see a bump in approval ratings for his reform law in the near future, Politico reported. Instead, to defend against Republican repeal efforts and public opposition, Obama is asking Americans to give the law a chance in the hopes of producing a successful rollout.
"Rather than try to disabuse people of every single bit of misinformation that's been out there, what we're saying is, 'Just look for yourself,'" Obama said.
Meanwhile, the healthcare reform Americans will sign up for next week is a weaker version than the overhaul Obama first proposed more than three years ago, according to Politico. Despite a conflict-ridden legislative battle and continuous political resistance, the ACA still held onto its three main pillars: the health insurance exchanges, the premium subsidies and the expanded coverage for the poor, according to the article.
For more:
- read the Healthwatch article
- here's the Politico article