THE PRESIDENT: Everybody, have a seat.
MS. BAKER: Hello. My name is Janice Baker. I havethe privilege to say that I'm the firstperson in the state of Delaware to enrollfor health insurance through the new marketplace. (Applause.) Like many consumers out there, it took me a number of frustratingattempts beforeI could apply for and select my plan. I kept trying because I needed access to thenew healthcare options.
I had applied to three privateinsurance companies only to be rejected due to preexistinghealthconditions. I am too young for Medicare,but I'm too old not to have some health issues. Iwas able to find a policy I am thrilled with, saving $150 a month, andmuch lower deductiblesthan my previous policy that I held through my smallbusiness.
I'm here today to encourage otherpeople like me who needs access to quality, affordableinsurance, and to tellthem to have patience with such a new system. Without this ability toget this insurance, Iknow that a single hospital stay could have bankrupted me and mybusiness.
Thank you all. And I am now honored to introduce thePresident of the United States. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Great job.
MS. BAKER: Thank you. Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you,everybody. Well, thank you, Janice.And thanks to everybody here for coming onthis beautiful day. Welcome to the WhiteHouse.
About three weeks ago, as thefederal government shut down, the Affordable Care Act'shealth insurancemarketplaces opened for business across the country. Well, we've now gottenthe government backopen for the American people, and today I want to talk about how we'regoing toget the marketplaces running at full steam, as well. And I'm joined today by folks whohave eitherbenefited from the Affordable Care Act already, or who are helping theirfellowcitizens learn about what this law means for them and how they can get covered.
Of course, you've probably heardthat HealthCare.gov –- the new website where people canapply for healthinsurance, and browse and buy affordable plans in most states –- hasn'tworkedas smoothly as it was supposed to work. And the number of people who have visitedthe site has beenoverwhelming, which has aggravated some of these underlying problems.
Despite all that, thousands ofpeople are signing up and saving money as we speak. ManyAmericans with a preexisting condition,like Janice, are discovering that they can finally gethealth insurance likeeverybody else.
So today, I want to speak toevery American who's looking to get affordable healthinsurance. I want you to know what's available to youand why it may be a good deal for you.And for those who've had some problems with the website, I want to tellyou what we're doingto make it work better and how you can sign up to getcovered in other ways.
But before I do that, let meremind everybody that the Affordable Care Act is not just awebsite. It's much more. For the vast majority of Americans -- for 85percent of Americanswho already have health insurance through your employer orMedicare or Medicaid -– you don'tneed to sign up for coverage through awebsite at all. You've already gotcoverage. What theAffordable Care Actdoes for you is to provide you with new benefits and protections that havebeenin place for some time. You may not knowit, but you're already benefiting from theseprovisions in the law.
For example, because of theAffordable Care Act, young people like Jasmine Jennings, andJessica Ugalde,and Ezra Salop, all of whom are here today, they've been able to stay ontheirparents' plans until they're 26. Millions of other young people are currently benefiting fromthat part ofthe law. (Applause.) Another part of the Affordable Care Act isproviding seniors withdeeper discounts on their prescription medicine. Billions of dollars have been saved byseniorsalready. That's part of thelaw. It's already in place. It's happening right now.
Already, because of theAffordable Care Act, preventive care like mammograms and birthcontrol are freethrough your employers. That's part ofthis law. (Applause.) So there are a widerange of consumerprotections and benefits that you already have if you've got healthinsurance.You may not have noticedthem, but you've got them, and they're not going anywhere. Andthey're not dependent on a website.
Here's another thing that theAffordable Care Act does. In stateswhere governors andlegislatures have wisely allowed it, the Affordable CareAct provides the opportunity for manyAmericans to get covered under Medicaidfor the first time. So in Oregon, forexample, that'shelped cut the number of uninsured people by 10 percent just inthe last three weeks. Thinkaboutthat. That's 56,000 more Americans whonow have health care. (Applause.) That doesn'tdepend on a website.
Now, if you're one of the 15percent of Americans who don't have health insurance -- eitherbecause you can'tafford it or because your employer doesn't offer it, or because you're asmallbusinessperson and you have to go out on the individual market and buy it onyour ownand it's just too expensive -- October 1st was an important date. That's when we opened thenew marketplaceswhere people without health insurance, or who can't afford healthinsurance, orwho aren't part of a group plan, can finally start getting affordable coverage.
And the idea is simple. By enrolling in what we're calling thesemarketplaces, you becomepart of a big group plan -- as if you were working fora big employer -- a statewide group planthat spreads risk between sick peopleand healthy people, between young and old, and thenbargains on your behalf forthe best deal on health care. What we'vedone is essentially create acompetition where there wasn't competitionbefore. We created these big groupplans, and nowinsurers are really interested in getting your business. And so insurers have created new healthcareplans with more choices to be made available through these marketplaces.
And as a result of this choiceand this competition, prices have come down. When you addthe new tax credits that many people are eligible forthrough the law, then the prices comedown even further. So one study shows that through new optionscreated by the Affordable CareAct, nearly 6 in 10 uninsured Americans willfind that they can get covered for less than $100 amonth. Think about that. (Applause.)
Through the marketplaces, you canget health insurance for what may be the equivalentof your cell phone bill oryour cable bill, and that's a good deal.
So the fact is the product of theAffordable Care Act for people without health insurance isquality healthinsurance that's affordable. And thatproduct is working. It's reallygood. And itturns out there's a massivedemand for it. So far, the nationalwebsite, HealthCare.gov, has beenvisited nearly 20 million times. Twenty million times. (Applause.) And there's great demand atthe state level as well, because there are abunch of states that are running their ownmarketplaces.
We know that nearly one-third ofthe people applying in Connecticut and Maryland, forexample, are under 35years old. They understand that they canget a good deal at low costs,have the security of health care, and this is notjust for old folks like me -- that everybodyneeds good quality healthinsurance. And all told, more than halfa million consumers across thecountry have successfully submitted applicationsthrough federal and state marketplaces. Andmany of those applications aren't just for individuals, it's fortheir entire families. So evenmorepeople are already looking to potentially take advantage of the high quality,affordableinsurance that is provided through the Affordable Care Act.
So let me just recap here. The product is good. The health insurance that's being providedisgood. It's high quality and it'saffordable. People can save money,significant money, bygetting insurance that's being provided through thesemarketplaces. And we know thatthedemand is there. People are rushing tosee what's available. And those who havealready hada chance to enroll are thrilled with the result. Every day, people who were stuck withsky-highpremiums because of preexisting conditions are getting affordableinsurance for the first time, orfinding, like Janice did, that they're savinga lot of money. Every day, women arefinally buyingcoverage that doesn't charge them higher premiums than men forthe same care. (Applause.)Every day, people are discovering that newhealth insurance plans have to cover maternitycare, mental health care, freepreventive care.
So you just heard Janice's story-- she owns her own small business. Sherecently became thefirst woman to enroll in coverage through Delaware'sexchange. And it's true, it took her afewtries, but it was worth it after being turned down for insurance threetimes due to minorpreexisting conditions. So now she'll be covered, she'll save 150 bucks a month, and shewon'thave to worry that one illness or accident will cost her her business that she'sworked sohard to build.
And Janice is not alone. I recently received a letter from a womannamed Jessica Sanford inWashington State. And here's what she wrote: “I ama single mom, no child support, self-employed, and I haven't had insurance for15 years because it's too expensive. Myson hasADHD and requires regular doctor visits and his meds alone cost $250per month. I have had anongoingtendinitis problem due to my line of work that I haven't had treated. Now, finally, weget to have coverage becauseof the ACA for $169 per month. I wascrying the other day when Isigned up. Somuch stress lifted.”
Now, that is not untypical for alot of folks like Jessica who have been struggling withouthealthinsurance. That's what the AffordableCare Act is all about. The point is, theessence of thelaw -- the health insurance that's available to people -- isworking just fine. In somecases,actually, it's exceeding expectations -- the prices are lower than we expected,the choice isgreater than we expected.
But the problem has been that the website that'ssupposed to make it easy to apply for andpurchase the insurance is not workingthe way it should for everybody. Andthere's nosugarcoating it. The websitehas been too slow, people have been getting stuck during theapplicationprocess. And I think it's fair to saythat nobody is more frustrated by that than I am -- precisely because theproduct is good, I want the cash registers to work. I want the checkoutlines to be smooth. So I want people to be able to get this greatproduct. And there's no excusefor theproblems, and these problems are getting fixed.
But while we're working out the kinks in thesystem, I want everybody to understand thenature of the problem. First of all, even with all the problems atHealthCare.gov, the website isstill working for a lot of people -- just not asquick or efficient or consistent as we want. Andalthough many of these folks have found that they had to wait longerthan they wanted, oncethey complete the process they're very happy with thedeal that's available to them, just likeJanice's.
Second, I want everybody toremember that we're only three weeks into a six-month openenrollment period,when you can buy these new plans. (Applause.) Keep in mind theinsurancedoesn't start until January 1st; that's the earliest that theinsurance can kick in. No one whodecidesto purchase a plan has to pay their first premium until December 15th. And unlike theday after Thanksgiving salesfor the latest Playstation or flat-screen TVs, the insurance plansdon't runout. They're not going to sell out. They'll be available through the marketplace-- (applause) -- throughout the open enrollment period. The prices that insurers have set willnotchange. So everybody who wants insurancethrough the marketplace will get insurance,period. (Applause.) Everybody who wants insurance through the marketplace will getinsurance.
Third, we are doing everything wecan possibly do to get the websites working better, faster,sooner. We've got people working overtime, 24/7, toboost capacity and address the problems.Experts from some of America's top private-sector tech companies who, bythe way, have seenthings like this happen before, they want it to work. They're reaching out. They're offering tosend help. We've had some of the best IT talent in theentire country join the team. Andwe'rewell into a “tech surge” to fix the problem. And we are confident that we will get all theproblems fixed.
Number four -- while the websitewill ultimately be the easiest way to buy insurancethrough the marketplace, itisn't the only way. And I want toemphasize this. Even as weredouble ourefforts to get the site working as well as it's supposed to, we're alsoredoubling ourefforts to make sure you can still buy the same quality,affordable insurance plans availableon the marketplace the old-fashioned way-- offline, either over the phone or in person.
And, by the way, there are a lotof people who want to take advantage of this who are morecomfortable workingon the phone anyway or in person. So letme go through the specifics as tohow you can do that if you're having problemswith the website or you just prefer dealing witha person.
Yesterday, we updated the website'shome page to offer more information about the otheravenues to enroll inaffordable health care until the online option works for everybody. So you'llfind information about how to talkto a specialist who can help you apply over the phone or toreceive adownloadable application you can fill out yourself and mail in.
We've also added more staff tothe call centers where you can apply for insurance over thephone. Those are already -- they've beenworking. But a lot of people havedecided first to go tothe website. Butkeep in mind, these call centers are already up and running. And you can getyour questions answered byreal people, 24 hours a day, in 150 different languages. The phonenumber for these call centers is1-800-318-2596. I want to repeat that --1-800-318-2596. Waittimes have averagedless than one minute so far on the call centers, although I admit that thewaittimes probably might go up a little bit now that I've read the number out loudon nationaltelevision. (Laughter.)
But the point is the call centersare available. You can talk to somebodydirectly and theycan walk you through the application process. And I guarantee you, if one thing is worththewait, it's the safety and security of health care that you can afford, orthe amount of moneythat you can save by buying health insurance through themarketplaces. (Applause.)
Once you get on the phone with atrained representative, it usually takes about 25minutes for an individual toapply for coverage, about 45 minutes for a family. Once you applyfor coverage, you will becontacted by email or postal mail about your coverage status.
But you don't have to just gothrough the phone. You can also apply inperson with the helpof local navigators -– these are people specially trainedto help you sign up for health care, andthey exist all across the country, oryou can go to community health centers and hospitals. Justvisit LocalHelp.HealthCare.gov to findout where in your area you can get help and apply forinsurance in person.
And finally, if you've alreadytried to apply through the website and you've been stucksomewhere along theway, do not worry. In the coming weeks,we will contact you directly,personally, with a concrete recommendation forhow you can complete your application,shop for coverage, pick a plan thatmeets your needs, and get covered once and for all.
So here's the bottom line. The product, the health insurance isgood. The prices are good.It is a good deal. People don't just want it; they're showing upto buy it. Nobody is madder thanmeabout the fact that the website isn't working as well as it should, which meansit's going toget fixed. (Laughter andapplause.)