President Obama’s former campaign manager on Sunday said it may be years until ObamaCare is working “really well.”
David Plouffe said on ABC’s “This Week” that ObamaCare was designed to be implemented by the states.
{mosads}“And in most of the states [it] is going quite well. You talked about Medicaid expansion. I think it’s just a fact, and it may take until 2017 when this president leaves office, you’re going to see almost every state in this country running their own exchanges eventually and expanding Medicaid. And I think it’ll work really well, then,” he said.
The Obama administration on Sunday said HealthCare.gov was workable for the vast majority of users, a standard that will be tested as millions of people flood the site in the next three weeks.
“You see the interest out there … people want healthcare,” Plouffe said. “They’re going to be able to get healthcare.”
“So, if the website is working … people will tell their siblings or they’ll talk their brothers, or sisters or their friends, say I went on, it was pretty easy, I got healthcare. I’m happy with the plan. So, this is going to be something that person to person is going to get fixed or not. And I think what you’re beginning to see is the interest is spiking, because the interest is out there. People just need an easy experience and it hasn’t been easy,” he added.
Plouffe said the administration has gone through a “tough patch” with the botched rollout of ObamaCare, adding that the government shutdown also affected Americans’ confidence in government. But he predicted improved approval ratings for the president.
“Let’s fast-forward to the State of the Union and the months ahead. Healthcare working better, a lot of people signing up, the economy continuing to strengthen, hopefully no Washington shutdowns. I think the president’s numbers will recover. I think people’s confidence will recover,” Plouffe said.
“And then we need to push Congress to do immigration, to do smart things to help the economy. [T]he American people are sitting at home and saying ‘we’re talking about all these issues except what’s most important to me, which is my job and which is my income,’ ” he added.