Biden, Obama Reunite for Obamacare Enrollment Push After Trump Targets Program

President Barack Obama walks with Vice President Joe Biden as they arrive to speak about the Supreme Court's ruling to uphold the subsidies that comprise the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on March 5, 2021. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama have joined forces on a video pledging to preserve and expand the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, following comments by former President Donald Trump about reviving his efforts to make massive changes to the plan if reelected.

The White House shared the video on social media on Friday in an effort to encourage open enrollment in the ACA exchanges.

At the start of the video, a message on the screen asks, “Hey, President Biden, is Obamacare still a thing?” This prompts President Biden to turn to President Obama and say, “Is it still a thing?”

“Yes, Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, Bidencare, whatever you call it—yes, it is still a thing,” says President Obama. “The other side’s been trying to repeal it every year since it’s existed, but we’ll keep fighting to protect it.”

“Not just protect it but expand it, saving millions of dollars for working families. We’re covering more people than ever,” President Biden adds.

Although the 44th president merely alludes to “the other side,” the video surfaced just weeks after President Trump discussed repealing and replacing the ACA, a law passed in 2010 and a rallying cry for Republicans ever since.

“The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social on Nov. 25. “I’m seriously looking at alternatives.”

The former president attempted to repeal the law in 2017 during his administration but was eventually blocked by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

“We had a couple of Republican Senators who campaigned for 6 years against it, and then raised their hands not to terminate it,” he wrote, referring to the late Mr. McCain. “It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!”

Democrats have made a number of mentions of the remark ever since.

The same message is reiterated in the new video despite President Trump’s insistence that he prefers to improve health coverage over repealing the ACA.

The ACA’s open enrollment period for insurance began on Nov. 1, and the deadline to sign up for new coverage is Jan. 16, 2024, according to the White House’s caption on the video.

In October, a report issued by Paragon Health Institute outlined details about enrollment, indicating that the data does not show positive trends for the program.

“Enrollment is way below expectations, and the average cost is three times what was projected,” Brian Blase, president of Paragon Health Institute, told The Epoch Times. “The ACA is not working as intended.”

In 2013 the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that they believed that around 40 million Americans would enroll in health plans through the ACA by 2021. According to the CBO only about 21 million enrolled in the program as of 2021.

In 2008, Obama campaigned on a platform that included a promise to cut family health insurance prices by $2,500 per year. Between 2013 and 2019, the average monthly premium more than doubled, rising from $244 to $558, according to the Heritage Foundation.

At the end of the video, President Biden says, “It’s still a BFD,” alluding to his 2010 hot-mic expletive that was heard during Obamacare’s passage in 2010.