Sign-up figures trigger new round of health law political spin

President Barack Obama uses the new enrollment numbers to urge Democrats to be proud of the health law and call on Republicans to back off in their push to repeal the measure. GOP leaders, though, did not appear to soften their positions.

CNN: Obama: Republicans 'Were Wrong' About Obamacare
President Barack Obama called on his fellow Democrats to "forcefully defend and be proud" of the fact that millions of people have signed up for health care insurance through the federal marketplaces, and faulted Republicans who are still angling to repeal the Affordable Care Act. "I don't think we should apologize for it. I don't think we should be defensive about it. I think there is a strong, good, right story to tell," Obama said Thursday during a rare appearance at the daily White House news conference (Killough, 4/17).

Politico: Obama Tells Democrats: Defend My Law
President Barack Obama has laid out the blueprint he thinks his party should follow on Obamacare as the midterms approach: "forcefully defend and be proud" of the law -; and then move on, hitting Republicans for Washington dysfunction and inaction on the economy. The question now is whether Democrats will listen (Dovere and Budoff Brown, 4/18).

The Associated Press: President Defending Health Law Good For Some Dems
President Barack Obama's full-throated defense of his health care overhaul seems perfectly timed for Democrats who want their party to embrace the law more enthusiastically. At a White House news conference Thursday, Obama noted that health insurance enrollments under the new law are higher than expected, and costs are lower. If Republicans carried out their pledge to repeal the law, he said, it "would increase the deficit, raise premiums for millions of Americans and take insurance away from millions more" (Babington and Alonso-Zaldivar, 4/17).

Reuters: Obama Says Health Law Is Working, Private Insurance Enrollment At 8 Million
President Barack Obama delivered a vigorous defense of his signature healthcare law on Thursday, saying private insurance enrollment under it has reached 8 million people and faulting Republicans for failing to agree with him that "this thing is working. I've said before this law won't solve all the problems in our healthcare system. We know we've got more work to do. But we now know for a fact that repealing the Affordable Care Act would increase the deficit, raise premiums for millions of Americans and take insurance away from millions more," Obama told reporters at the White House (4/17).

USA Today: Obama On Health Law: 'This Thing Is Working'
Opponents of the law say they're still waiting to hear how many people pay for their policies, if enough healthy people have enrolled to make the exchanges financially workable in the future and how many of the enrollees use a month's worth of benefits to cover medical procedures they couldn't afford before but then discontinue paying for their insurance. Obama spoke shortly after meeting with a group of state insurance commissioners, some of whom reported that the president cited a rush of young people -; under age 35 -; signing up late (Jackson and Kennedy, 4/17).