With an I-told-you-so swagger, President Obama said Tuesday that 7.1 million Americans signed up for health insurance by Monday's deadline - exceeding the original White House goal under Obamacare.
"In the first six months, we've taken a big step forward," he said amid cheers of supporters in the White House Rose Garden. "The truth is even more want to sign up."
The 7.1 million sign-up figure does not include anyone who enrolled Monday in 14 states with their own online insurance marketplaces.
Nor does it count those who will be allowed to exploit an extension of the deadline if they couldn't complete applications by the deadline due to website problems.
The announcement brought welcome, if temporary, relief to Democrats following months of derision, especially among Republicans, after the disastrous rollout of the federal Obamacare designated for Americans in 36 states to shop for and purchase insurance.
In his Rose Garden remarks, Obama offered stories of everyday Americans who had benefited from his signature domestic program. He then used those sagas to deride naysayers.
"The lengths to which people have gone to scare people," he said, "I don't get it. Why are people working so hard for people not to have health insurance? Why are they so mad about the idea of folks having health insurance?"
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images Obama said 7.1 million Americans signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, exceeding the expectations of the White House.
Healthcare.gov At least 7.1 million Americans signed up for health insurance at healthcare.gov.
Susan Walsh/AP Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sits in the audience as she waits for President Obama to make a statement on the Affordable Care Act on Tuesday.
JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images Obama and Biden return to the Oval Office after the president's remarks on the Affordable Care Act. Obama cheered seven million people who signed up for insurance under his health care law, and lashed out at political foes who he said were bent on denying care to Americans.
Jeff Roberson/AP Erodq Vilza waits by a laptop as she tries to sign her father-in-law up for health insurance before the Affordable Care Act deadline on Monday.
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"There are still no 'death panels," he said, alluding to one of the more vivid, erroneous claims about the Affordable Care Act. "Armageddon has not arrived."
"The Affordable Care Act is here to stay," said Obama, himself central to a rapid-fire multi-media campaign the last month that sought to hike enrollment, especially among younger Americans.
He even referred to the healthcare law as “Obamacare” - a term originally embraced by critics.
It remains unclear how many Americans now have insurance for the first time as a result of the law. For example, it's not clear how many who have signed up were switching existing coverage.
It's also unclear whether enough younger and healthier people have signed up to offset the costs of covering older, sicker consumers.
Obama conceded that meeting the initial sign-up goal "doesn't mean all the problems of health care" are now solved.
He said there likely will be more problems with the website moving forward.
And premiums will still increase for those with insurance. But he said that recent data suggest premiums have increased more slowly as a result of the law.
The politics of the law remain complicated and difficult for Obama. He was damaged greatly by the high-profile rollout problems and his approval ratings plummeted.
Republicans are making criticisms central to their November mid-term election strategy, especially as they seek to regain control of the Senate. They already control the House.
Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) argued that the law was harming the American people.
““Every promise the president made has been broken: Health care costs are rising, not falling,” Steel said. “Americans are losing the doctors and plans that they like — especially seniors suffering under President Obama’s Medicare cuts.”
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