Reid Predicts Obamacare Will Prove Beneficial in 2014 Elections
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid argued Tuesday that Obamacare would prove beneficial to Democratic senators facing re-election in 2014 by the time next November rolls around.
“I think it’s going to be good for them,” the Nevada Democrat told KSNV-TV in Las Vegas. “By that time, there will be a lot of people on it that have already signed up. It’ll be fine.”
“We have 21 Democratic senators that are up, and … we’re watching two or three of them closely, but to take over the majority they’d need six seats,” Reid said of Republican hopes to retake the Senate. “I’m not cocky, but I am comfortable where we are. I think we’re in pretty good shape.”
In the interview, Reid mentioned that he had been on a conference call Sunday with a number of senators and White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough to discuss the bungled rollout of the health care overhaul’s insurance exchanges.
Reid also sought to further clarify what’s become among the most contentious claims in the health care debate, saying that President Barack Obama was accurate in saying people could keep their health insurance plans if they like them, noting plans are only effective for one year anyway.
“Remember what the president said: ‘If you like your insurance, you can keep it.’ There is nobody in America that has the same insurance that … they had when he said this. We’ve had three different years. The policies are only for one year,” Reid said.
“I still go back and say what I said earlier,” Reid said. “What he said was true. If you want to keep the insurance you have you can keep it. The problem is … we did not put the bill into effect that way. There’s a lot of administrative things that kicked in, and there have been three changes in anyone’s policy since then. It’s not the same policy.”