14.5M get health care under Obama law, with help from Biden

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says 14.5 million Americans got private health insurance for this year under the Obama-era health law, thanks to help from his administration. Biden said Thursday health care should be a right, not a privilege, and a record number of people now have coverage under the Affordable Care Act. But progress could prove fleeting if congressional Democrats remain deadlocked over Biden’s social agenda package. Biden’s earlier coronavirus relief bill has been providing generous subsidy increases. That enhanced financial assistance is temporary. The assistance will go away at the end of 2022 without congressional action to extend it additional years or make it permanent.