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Think Progress: Saturday marks the three year anniversary of President Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the most sweeping overhaul of the U.S. health care system since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. While some the law’s most significant provisions won’t go into full effect until next year, many of its important reforms have already taken hold — and have already changed the lives of real Americans for the better. Here are just a few ways that the Affordable Care Act has bolstered the health and financial security of Americans from all around the country:
Refusing coverage and treatments for sick Americans due to their “pre-existing medical conditions” has always ranked among the insurance industry’s most reviled practices. For decades, Americans have recounted horror stories about battling insurance companies while loved ones suffered — like 4-month-old Alex Lange, who was turned away by an insurer for being born “obese.” Thanks to Obamacare, that’s no longer legal, as the consumer protection for Americans with pre-existing conditions has already gone into effect for children.
More here:
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Statement by the President on the Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act
Three years ago today, I signed into law the principle that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one should go broke just because they get sick. The Affordable Care Act will give hard-working, middle class families the health care security they deserve and protect every American from the worst insurance company abuses. Already, millions of seniors are saving $600 a year on their prescription drugs. Millions of young people have been able to stay on their family’s health plan until age 26. Preventive care, like mammograms for women and wellness visits for seniors, is covered free of charge. Most importantly, for the sake of our fiscal future, the growth of health care costs is beginning to slow. In fact, last year, Medicaid costs fell for the first time in decades.
Because of the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies will no longer have unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny you coverage, or charge women more than men. And soon, no American will ever again be denied care or charged more due to a pre-existing condition, like cancer or even asthma.
Later this year, millions of Americans will finally have the opportunity to buy the same kind of health care Members of Congress give themselves. Beginning in October, you’ll be able to sign up for new private health care plans through a new health insurance marketplace where private plans will compete to save middle class families money. Through these marketplaces, Americans and small business owners will be able to choose from a menu of health plans that fit their budget and provide quality coverage they can count on when they need it most. If you like the plan you have, you can keep it. If you cannot afford a plan, you or your small business may get financial assistance to make it affordable.
There’s more work to do to implement this law, and I look forward to working with leaders of both parties to help Americans save money on health care and extend the security of coverage to every family.
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They made it happen!
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12:30: The President arrives in San Antonio, Texas
2:0: Delivers remarks at a campaign event at The Henry B Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio (Live coverage)
3:30: Delivers remarks at a campaign event (Private Residence)
4:50: Departs San Antonio
5:25: Arrives Austin, Texas
6:50: Delivers remarks at a campaign event at Austin Music Hall, Austin, Texas (Live coverage)
8:55: Delivers remarks at a campaign event (Private Residence)
10:10: Departs Austin
1:05 AM: Arrives Joint Base Andrews
1:20 AM: Arrives the White House
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Steve Benen: Quite a few Americans are going to go to their mailbox this week and next, open it, and find something unexpected: a check from their insurance company. It’s another side benefit from the Affordable Care Act that most Americans mistakenly thinks they don’t like:
When Laird Le found a check for $70.02 in the mail, he wasn’t quite sure why. Turns out, he’s one of the estimated 13 million Americans that will receive a rebate on their health insurance premiums as a result of the health care reform law recently upheld by the Supreme Court…..
…. “Obamacare” has an 80/20 rule, which requires insurance companies to spend roughly 80% of all premiums on actual health benefits, rather than company overhead (marketing, lobbying, executive salaries, etc.). When an insurer spends less than 80% on health care for its customers, the company is required to send the customer a check for the difference.
How many checks are we talking about? According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly 16 million Americans will get rebates before the legal due date, which is Aug. 1…. when they realize it’s because of Obamacare, maybe the law will start to look a little better in those consumers’ eyes….
Full post here
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TPM: President Obama over the past week has hammered away at Mitt Romney’s business record. It’s like he’s “hellbent on making the word ‘Bain’ synonymous with a source of harm or ruin,” Stephen Colbert said on Monday. Over the weekend, the Obama campaign released a blistering new ad, mocking Romney’s rendition of “America the Beautiful” with a series of scathing headlines. “Mitt was originally on key,” Colbert said. “But he outsourced many of those notes to India.”
….. Romney adviser Ed Gillespie tried to clear the whole thing up on Sunday, saying Romney retired from Bain capital “retroactively.” What a novel idea, Colbert thought. “So he wasn’t responsible for firing all of those people whose jobs were outsourced. He was responsible for retroactively not hiring them.”
Video at link
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Cincinnati, July 16 (Photos by Christopher Dilts for Obama for America)
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Morning/afternoon/evening everyone 
The People’s View
