Groups Thank ‘Obamacare,’ And Not Sarcastically

“Thanks Obamacare.”

Usually Americans hear that phrase only in the most sarcastic contexts. Opponents of the health reform law have hung the “Obamacare” moniker on it to belittle the measure聽as nothing more than an attempt to fix America鈥檚 health care problems 鈥 varied as they are 鈥 with a one-size-fits-all approach聽they say聽expands the reach聽of government to never-before-seen levels.

We hear it聽used almost daily聽by Republican candidates for president, who have picked up the theme and taken it one step farther — to聽“Romneycare,” which has become a the negative label for GOP presidential hopeful聽Mitt Romney鈥檚 health reform in Massachusetts. Former GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty even coined the phrase 鈥

鈥 to link the state law Romney signed聽while governor to the federal law advanced聽by President Barak Obama.

This聽is not聽the first time 鈥-care鈥 has been used to describe a health reform effort.聽Back in the 1990s, 鈥淗illarycare,鈥 named for the former first lady and now secretary of state, was used to describe the聽Clinton administration鈥檚 attempt at overhauling聽the health care system. In the 2008 presidential primary elections, the GOP candidates in turn聽linked聽鈥溾 to Romney to try to unseat him as the odds-on favorite candidate.

But now, two nonprofit advocacy groups, ProgressNow Colorado Education and the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, are trying to take back 鈥淥bamacare,” painting it as a positive brand in a (complete with its own and hash tag, #thanksobamacare) launched Monday. The campaign highlights 10 reasons people should聽 be thankful for the health law. Among them: allowing people younger than 26 to stay on their parents鈥 health insurance plans and stopping insurers from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions (the law does the same for adults beginning in 2014).

The effort also comes with a video, below, which places a special emphasis on the 鈥-care鈥 part of 鈥淥bamacare.鈥

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