President Obama’s most trusted adviser joined Chris Ryan to discuss the Affordable Care Act, the President’s legacy and his fourth quarter strategy.In her opinion, the Affordable Care Act has been a huge success for millions of people whose lives have been improved or saved now that they have coverage. When she was asked if Obamacare will survive threats by Republican presidential hopefuls to repeal it, she is confident that it will survive because the legislation has helped so many people. By her estimate the Affordable Care Act has helped over 100 million people–26 year olds on their parent’s policies, senior citizens who getting help with prescription drugs, the many people have lower premiums, and people who have preexisting medical conditions. She is also confident that the bill will survive constitutional challenges in the Supreme Court.
Chris pointed out the recent improvements in the implementation of the Obamacare in New Hampshire. Choice and competition has improved. Originally, here was only one plan provider. Now there a four and 70% of consumers have qualified for tax credits to help with paying their premiums. When she was asked how the costs will come down in the future, Jarrett believes that competition will keep costs down going forward. With respect to the Affordable Care Act being the centerpiece of President Obama’s legacy, Valerie Jarrett stated that the president never discusses things in terms of his legacy. In her view, the main accomplishment of the Obama administration would be recovering from the financial and economic collapse that the country faced at the beginning of his term. She points to the improvements that the country has made in job creation. She and the president are looking to the last two years of his term. President Obama likes to use a sport’s analogy and calls it the the fourth quarter. Obama’s and Jarrett’s goals are very ambitious–higher wages, providing the training that workers will need for the jobs of the twenty-first century, expand job opportunities, and providing the type of education that will help people to compete.
