It took a monumental effort to pass Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act. Its most important provisions protect Americans from being denied health insurance for preexisting conditions, allow young adults to stay on their parents’ plans until age 26, and give subsidies to low-income families.
But the law also has been battered by legal challenges and political efforts to repeal it. The Supreme Court will soon issue an opinion in a case called King v. Burwell that could upend the law.
Barack Obama
In his two terms as president, Obama faced a number of crises: the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an environmental crisis, and the threat of terrorism. But he worked to improve the economy, reform health care, and build a clean energy future for the country.
He believed in the power of politics to unite ordinary people around a politics of purpose and bring about positive change, something that he learned through his years of community organizing in Chicago. He also drew inspiration from his travels to Kenya, where he embraced his biracial identity and traced his family history.
The law that Obama drafted, called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” was a landmark piece of legislation. It sought to make healthcare more affordable, expand the nation’s Medicaid program and strengthen Medicare. It also sought to end discrimination against those with pre-existing conditions and require insurers to cover preventative screenings for cancer, diabetes and blood pressure disorders.
Charles Grassley
Chuck Grassley is one of the most hard-working and effective senators in the United States. He has worked for a competitive marketplace with antitrust enforcement and tort reform, for a patent system that rewards innovation and invention, for legal immigration that will help America’s economy grow, and for whistleblower protections that protect people who speak out about wrongdoing in the public interest.
He also works on a host of issues related to criminal justice and civil rights, including reforming the federal judiciary. He is an outspoken advocate for victims of crime and has helped to keep illegal drugs out of the hands of young people.
On Monday night, Grassley held a town hall in Waukon, Iowa, where an audience member pressed him about his opposition to the Affordable Care Act. She noted that her two adult children got their healthcare coverage through the ACA. She said she was confused by his recent remark that Republicans would not repeal Obamacare if they regain control of the Senate.
Bart Stupak
Bart Stupak is a nine-term representative from Michigan’s 1st district. He represents the western Upper Peninsula of the state. He worked to ban oil drilling beneath the Great Lakes, and fought water diversions that threatened the lakes’ shoreline.
He is one of several strongly pro-life Democrats in the House (others include Tim Holden, James Oberstar and Dan Boren); his 2004 congressional campaign was endorsed by the National Right to Life committee.
When he was in Congress, Stupak helped craft the Affordable Care Act. The legislation had a number of problems, including its racialization and the lack of a single-payer system for government insurance.
Despite these problems, the ACA was passed, and millions of Americans now have health insurance. Stupak is optimistic about the future of Obamacare and its ability to improve the lives of Americans. But he is still sad about his son’s suicide. He says that he is convinced that unadvertised side effects from Accutane, an anti-acne drug, played a role in his son’s death.
Liz Fowler
When President Obama was drafting the Affordable Care Act, Liz Fowler was his chief health policy adviser. She was also senior counsel to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, who took a key role in drafting the legislation that became known as obamacare.
In her new position as director of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) and deputy administrator of CMS, Fowler will oversee Medicare’s testing of novel payment models and drug pricing reforms. She’s been in the job since March 2021 and brings more than 25 years of experience in healthcare policy and research.
A former senior executive at Johnson & Johnson, she’s also been a chief health counsel for Senator Baucus, whose Senate Finance Committee wrote the original version of the Affordable Care Act. She’s now working to keep Medicare viable while also delivering high-quality care, likely by putting more financial risk on hospitals and doctors, and taking aim at racial and ethnic disparities in the system.
