Joe Biden has been one of America’s most consequential presidents, as well as a dear friend and partner to me. Today, we’ve also been reminded — again — that he’s a patriot of the highest order.
Sixteen years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I knew about Joe’s remarkable career in public service. But what I came to admire even more was his character — his deep empathy and hard-earned resilience; his fundamental decency and belief that everyone counts.
Since taking office, President Biden has displayed that character again and again. He helped end the pandemic, created millions of jobs, lowered the cost of prescription drugs, passed the first major piece of gun safety legislation in 30 years, made the biggest investment to address climate change in history, and fought to ensure the rights of working people to organize for fair wages and benefits. Internationally, he restored America’s standing in the world, revitalized NATO, and mobilized the world to stand up against Russian aggression in Ukraine.
More than that, President Biden pointed us away from the four years of chaos, falsehood, and division that had characterized Donald Trump’s administration. Through his policies and his example, Joe has reminded us of who we are at our best — a country committed to old-fashioned values like trust and honesty, kindness and hard work; a country that believes in democracy, rule of law, and accountability; a country that insists that everyone, no matter who they are, has a voice and deserves a chance at a better life.
This outstanding track record gave President Biden every right to run for re-election and finish the job he started. Joe understands better than anyone the stakes in this election — how everything he has fought for throughout his life, and everything that the Democratic Party stands for, will be at risk if we allow Donald Trump back in the White House and give Republicans control of Congress.
I also know Joe has never backed down from a fight. For him to look at the political landscape and decide that he should pass the torch to a new nominee is surely one of the toughest in his life. But I know he wouldn’t make this decision unless he believed it was right for America. It’s a testament to Joe Biden’s love of country — and a historic example of a genuine public servant once again putting the interests of the American people ahead of his own that future generations of leaders will do well to follow.
We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. I believe that Joe Biden’s vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August. And I expect that every single one of us are prepared to carry that message of hope and progress forward into November and beyond.
For now, Michelle and I just want to express our love and gratitude to Joe and Jill for leading us so ably and courageously during these perilous times — and for their commitment to the ideals of freedom and equality that this country was founded on.
That's untrue though. They got rid of the penalties and price appreciation did not accelerate. The penalties were completely unnecessary especially considering they already had all the complicated rules to prevent people from getting insurance after they get sick (enrollment periods, "life events" etc).
Prices actually did go up, quite a lot. And the ACA allowed people with pre-existing conditions to get health insurance, it actually explicitly prohibited insurance companies from locking them out, which they are otherwise economically incentivized to do.
Prices were going up before ACA, under the penalties regime, and after it. There was no inflection point when the penalties got removed.
People are still locked out of getting insurance on the exchange except during enrollment periods which means people can not "time" getting insurance. They can not wait to get sick and then get insurance only when they know they need it.
The biggest problem with the exchanges is the insurance offered is pretty shitty (but better than pre-ACA individual coverage), and many exchanges have no real competition or even no competition offered. This is due to flaws in the design of the exchanges (making them per state) and not providing a public option that would always participate in every exchange and set a ceiling on prices.
Yes, but how much were they going up? Here's a chart:
https://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-health-insurance-premiums/
You may note a difference in rate of change before, during, and after the ACA in its full form.
I don't see the problem with enrollment periods, that seems like a reasonable restriction to me. I definitely prefer a public option, but we don't have the congressional support to get that. Didn't then, don't now. I'm unfamiliar with the amount of competition in less-served areas.
According to Howard Dean, who was DNC chair at the time and party to the negotiations, Lieberman could have been arm-twisted into supporting the public option, but Obama didn't care enough to fight for it.
Doesn't surprise me, I liked Lieberman. Problem is you'd simultaneously piss off the neo-lib faction.