Finally there is a moment to celebrate and embrace rather than defend and avoid. More than 7 million Americans signed up for health coverage through the Affordable Care Act exchanges, meeting the original goal and deserving of President Barack Obama’s celebration Tuesday in the White House Rose Garden. The surge in signups for coverage despite computer issues and relentless partisan attacks is a significant accomplishment and reflects the enormous demand for affordable, accessible health insurance.
Meeting the target of 7 million enrolling in health coverage does not excuse the Obama administration’s failure to roll out a workable website when the signup period began last fall. Imagine how many families would have signed up if the federal healthcare.gov website and all of the state exchanges had worked smoothly from the start. Imagine if the process had been as easy as buying a book or a song online. Imagine if there had been a unified national effort to sell the benefits of the health care law rather than all of the Republican attempts to kill it.
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