The former chief marketing officer for Healthcare.gov said Obamacare has made “very big strides” in improving coverage for millions of Americans, but the U.S. health-care system still needs a lot of work.
“I don’t know that there are many people who thought the Affordable Care Act was going to fix every problem in the United States health system,” Joshua Peck, now co-founder of health-care advocacy group Get America Covered, told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on Monday.
“It’s made some very big strides to making our health care better but it hasn’t solved all of those problems,” he said, noting the complexity of the overall health-care system and its flaws.
Peck estimated that 10 million people have coverage through Healthcare.gov, and that 12 million have secured coverage through Medicaid expansion. He also estimated that 133 million people who have preexisting conditions are now protected against discrimination from insurance companies.
The former Healthcare.gov marketing chief added that ACA is up against some major challenges. He noted that there is a “tremendous” amount of toxicity that surrounds the 2010 law, which he says has created a lot of misinformation.
Peck said one of the biggest challenges remains making health care more affordable.
“Health care costs are expensive in this country, and the Affordable Care Act is designed to provide financial help to make them more affordable,” Peck told Hill.TV. “People who don’t receive that financial help often still face very, very high costs depending on where they live.”
A federal judge in Texas struck down the landmark health care law on Friday, one day before the deadline to sign up for 2019 coverage.
U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that core provisions of ObamaCare are unconstitutional, making the whole law invalid. The Affordable Care Act will remain in place while the case is being appealed.
President Trump lauded O’Connor’s decision, arguing that if the Supreme Court upheld the judge’s decision it would lead to “GREAT HealthCare results” for Americans.
Former President Obama, meanwhile, criticized the move, arguing that “Republicans will never stop trying to undo” the law, which is considered his signature domestic achievement.
“If they can’t get it done in Congress, they’ll keep trying in the courts, even when it puts people’s pre-existing conditions coverage at risk,” Obama said.
—Tess Bonn
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.