WASHINGTON, Dec 7: President Barack Obama, battered by weeks of turmoil over the malfunctioning HealthCare.Gov website, turned to a fresh item on his agenda today as he pressured Republicans in Congress to extend benefits for jobless Americans.
It was a sign Obama may be slowly turning the corner from one of the worst crises of his five years in office, emerging bruised and weakened from the troubled rollout of his signature healthcare law, even as big challenges remain.
‘For decades, Congress has voted to offer relief to job-seekers – including when the unemployment rate was lower than it is today,’ Obama said in his weekly address. ‘But now that economic lifeline is in jeopardy.’ The unemployment benefits expire at year’s end.
Attending memorial services in South Africa next week for late South African President Nelson Mandela and then launching into holiday season festivities will also allow for a change of subject from the healthcare controversy.
Obama was buoyed too by news yesterday that the US jobless rate hit a five-year low of 7.0 per cent.
But Republicans say the glitch-prone HealthCare.Gov website is only a manifestation of a deeply flawed healthcare law in which many more Americans stand to see health insurance plans canceled and to encounter sticker shock when they sign up for Obamacare.
‘So by canceling your insurance, despite a promise to let you keep your plan, the Obama administration is essentially saying it knows what’s best for you and your family,’ said Republican Representative Renee Ellmers of North Carolina in her party’s weekly address.
The healthcare law, which was passed in 2010, aims to make affordable healthcare insurance available to millions of people who have no coverage.
The Obama administration’s next challenge is convincing hundreds of thousands of Americans needing insurance by Jan. 1 to give the website a try before December 23. Officials must make sure the site can support the traffic, and fix problems on the back end where the website transfers enrollment information to insurance companies.
‘The website was always going to get fixed,’ said Republican strategist Scott Reed. ‘But the looming problem are the thousands of people who have been dropped from their healthcare because of this government-run solution. That’s what’s starting to build up out there as a tidal wave.’
(agencies)
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