READ President Obama's Statement on the Fifth Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act

On the five-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, one thing couldn’t be clearer: This law is working, and in many ways, it’s working even better than anticipated.

After five years of the Affordable Care Act, more than 16 million uninsured Americans have gained the security of health insurance – an achievement that has cut the ranks of the uninsured by nearly one third. These aren’t just numbers. Because of this law, there are parents who can finally afford to take their kids to the doctor. There are families who no longer risk losing their home or savings just because someone gets sick. There are young people free to pursue their dreams and start their own business without worrying about losing access to healthcare. There are Americans who, without this law, would not be alive today.

For Americans who already had insurance before this law was passed, the Affordable Care Act has meant new savings and new protections. Today, tens of millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions are no longer at risk of being denied coverage. Women no longer have to worry about being charged more just for being women. Millions of young people have been able to stay on their parents’ plan until they turn 26. More than 9 million seniors and people with disabilities have saved an average of $1,600 per person on their prescription medicine, over $15 billion in all since the Affordable Care Act became law. More than 70 million Americans have gained access to preventive care, including contraceptive services, with no additional out-of-pocket costs. And the law has helped improve the quality of health care: it’s a major reason we saw 50,000 fewer preventable patient deaths in hospitals over the last three years of data.

Read the rest after the jump

Supreme Court sides with Hobby Lobby

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby case today.

A quick flashback before we start:
The Hobby Lobby corporation have strong religious objections to certain types of contraceptive devices and are suing to protect those religious rights against the ACA (Affordable Care Act). Basically, Hobby Lobby wants opt out of providing contraception coverage under Obamacare.

While the ruling was narrow, I think other companies could follow suit.

Here's more from Politico:

The ruling deals directly with only a small provision of Obamacare and will not take down the entire law but it amounts to a huge black eye for Obamacare and its backers. The justices have given Obamacare opponents their most significant political victory against the health care law, reinforcing their argument that the law and President Barack Obama are encroaching on Americans’ freedoms.

“Under the standard that [the Religious Freedom Restoration Act] prescribes, the HHS contraceptive mandate is unlawful,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the opinion, which was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy.

The court’s four liberal justices called it a decision of “startling breadth” and said that it allows companies to “opt out of any law (saving only tax laws) they judge incompatible with their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

The court appeared to reject, 7-2, the Obama Administration’s argument that for-profit companies cannot assert religious rights under RFRA. Only Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined the portion of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissent that argues companies do not have such rights. Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan did not join that section and did not explicitly state their views on the point.
The decision could open the door to other closely held corporations seeking to withhold coverage for other medical procedures at odds with firm religious beliefs. It marks the first time that the Supreme Court has allowed companies the ability to declare a religious belief – a decision that could reverberate far past the Affordable Care Act to other laws and issues.

Not a good way to kick off Monday morning.

Tweet of the Day

How can President Obama recover from his Katrina? GWB vet @matthewjdowd and I analyze today on @GMA

— GeorgeStephanopoulos (@GStephanopoulos) November 15, 2013

Hmm, let's see. Glitches in a website... 1800 plus folks dead and left homeless from a storm and Bush's slow response. You know, that makes so much sense George. Why didn't I think of that?

The President Speaks on the Plan to fix the Glitches in the ACA - LIVE