White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was asked during Thursdays press briefing about the individual mandate and how it’s a "central part of the Affordable Care Act, and the website is an important part of that. Is he happy with the way it's gone? "
Carney responded that the President Obama "made clear in an interview he gave the other day that he's not happy with it and has insisted that everybody work 24/7 to fix the problems that exist."
Below is a transport of the exchange:
Q: Thank you. As you know, the rollout of the Affordable Care Act has hit some snags along the way. Why didn't the president mention that as among his priorities this morning?
MR. CARNEY: Again, I should have mentioned that in my list.
That's something obviously administration is working on 24/7, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the items that the president mentioned, the three action items we're focused on, things that Congress could do, working together, Republicans and Democrats. The implementation of the Affordable Care Act is something that the administration is engaged in, including the effort to address the difficulties and glitches that have occurred with the website. And I think it's important to remember that the website is not alone the Affordable Care Act, and as I've done some in recent days, it's important to remind folks that even as there have been some challenges in enrolling through the website, those challenges are being addressed, and progress is being made, and people are enrolling across the country.
We're going to keep working in this to make sure that the consumer experience is improved and that the interests of all those millions of Americans who have been exploring the options available to them through the new Affordable Care Act and the marketplaces will be rewarded with the opportunity to enroll for so many who have never had affordable health care options in the past.
Q: But the individual mandate's a central part of the Affordable Care Act, and the website is an important part of that. Is he happy with the way it's gone? Does he -- would you anticipate any wholesale --
MR. CARNEY: I think the president made clear in an interview he gave the other day that he's not happy with it and has insisted that everybody work 24/7 to fix the problems that exist.
But you have to remember, now that we've hopefully taken this out of a political context, that this is not just about the president's health care reform bill that some opposed and some supported. This is about a law that was upheld by the Supreme Court, that is being implemented and providing benefits -- it's providing benefits to millions of Americans across the country, already is and is about to provide significantly more benefits to millions of Americans.
And as I've said in the past, the, you know, desire for millions of Americans and so many families across the country to have affordable health insurance exists outside of partisan preference. We've seen it reported in newspapers across the country, where individuals who identify themselves as conservatives or Republicans, who oppose the president, didn't vote for him, maybe vote Republican in congressional and local elections, say that they're extremely happy with the fact that they now have affordable health care insurance options that they did not have before.
And, you know, I think that one of the reasons -- and in fact it was stated by some of those who pursued this path -- one of the reasons why such an effort was made in these last several weeks to try to derail the Affordable Care Act was because of the recognition that the implementation of the law would make it so much harder for opponents to overturn it in the future because so many millions of Americans would see that it is delivering on the promise of affordable health insurance for -- for them.