Obama On Affordable Care Act: President Hails Obamacare During State Of The Union Address

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama hailed his signature health care reform law in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, even as he pledged to pursue further reductions in health care spending.

"Already, the Affordable Care Act is helping to slow the growth of health care costs," Obama said, referring to slowing cost increases that recently prompted the Congressional Budget Office to cut some $200 billion from the projected growth of Medicare and Medicaid costs.

"The reforms I’m proposing go even further," Obama said. "We’ll reduce taxpayer subsidies to prescription drug companies and ask more from the wealthiest seniors. We’ll bring down costs by changing the way our government pays for Medicare, because our medical bills shouldn’t be based on the number of tests ordered or days spent in the hospital -- they should be based on the quality of care that our seniors receive."

Obama did not spell out a specific plan for prescription drugs. A major reform to bring down drug costs would be to let Medicare negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies, which it is barred from doing. So far Congress has resisted that idea, and did not include it in the Affordable Care Act.