Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act with a meeting and a social-media hug to distance her campaign from rivals seeking to repeal the president’s health reforms.
As the conservative senator Ted Cruz became the first Republican candidate to formally seek his party’s nomination for 2016, the likely leading Democratic contender met Obama in an hour-long White House meeting that remained off his official public schedule.
“16m covered. Young ppl. Preexisting conditions. Women get better coverage. Repeal those things? Embrace them!,” said a message on Clinton’s Twitter account, posted moments after the White House confirmed their Monday rendezvous – along with a picture of her embracing the president in 2010, when his signature healthcare law first passed.
#ACA@5: 16m covered. Young ppl. Preexisting conditions. Women get better coverage. Repeal those things? Embrace them! pic.twitter.com/OI1m2VxD4W
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 23, 2015
Recent statistical estimates from the Department of Health and Human Services showing a 35% fall in the number of Americans without health insurance since the legislation came into affect have been seized upon by Democrats as a sign that the reforms are irreversible despite several outstanding legal and political challenges.
But earlier, at a event in Virginia, Cruz made repeal of the controversial legislation the centrepiece of his new campaign.
The White House, which earlier refused to acknowledge the president’s meeting with Clinton in advance when asked by reporters, subsequently issued a short statement confirming the event.
“As I noted in today’s briefing, President Obama and Secretary Clinton enjoy catching-up in person when their schedules permit,” the press secretary, Josh Earnest, said. “This afternoon they met privately for about an hour at the White House and discussed a range of topics.”
- This article was amended on 24 March 2015 to reflect that a photograph tweeted by Hillary Clinton was taken in 2010.
