President Obama plans to put the focus back on health care Friday afternoon, specifically in how his landmark legislation—the Affordable Care Act—helps women. He’ll deliver a speech surrounded by women and families who are already benefiting from the new law.
“This is already working, we did this health care bill because health care was 17 -18% of GDP and we could not afford to let that go on and we were not getting the best health care for the money we were spending,” Rep. Louise Slaughter, a New York Democrat, said on Jansing & Co.
The state of Colorado is already launching a two million dollar ad campaign in both print and on television to try and get people to sign up. The ads do not mention the phrase “Obamacare.” A narrator states, “When health care companies compete, there is only one winner: you.”
“Obviously you can’t do something this massive and go door-to-door explaining it to everyone,” Slaughter said.
The health care roll-out will be crucial on two fronts: for the success of the law and also for the 2014 midterm elections. Republicans plan to make health care an issue again. Next week House Republicans will take their 38th vote to roll the law back—but the first one, this year.
“Well, we’ve got 70 new members that have not had the opportunity to vote on the president’s health care law. Frankly, they’ve been asking for an opportunity to vote on it, and we’re going to give it to them,” House Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday.
The White House event Friday is geared toward women and families.
“They want mothers to become validators for this law,” The Grio’s Perry Bacon said on msnbc.
It could help boost public perception about a law that’s still seen as confusing.
“There’s just about any poll you look at, there are more people who say they don’t like the law than say they do,” Karen Tumulty of The Washington Post said.
According to a Kasier Family Health Tracking poll, 42% of Americans don’t know what the health care law is, included in that, 12% who think it’s been repealed and seven percent who think it got struck down by the Supreme Court.
Kristin Donnelly