In a first for a sitting U.S. President, President Obama was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association outlining the results of the Affordable Care Act in reducing uninsured rates, increasing access to care and slowing the growth in healthcare costs.

The law, enacted in 2010, has “made significant progress toward solving long-standing challenges facing the U.S. health care system related to access, affordability and quality of care,” the President writes in his article, "United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps." 

He notes that the uninsured rate has declined by 43 percent, from 16 percent in 2010 to 9.1 percent in 2015, under the law. And he cited evidence of improved access to care, including:

• a 5.5 percent drop in the share of nonelderly adults unable to afford care
• an average reduction of $600 to $1,000 per person in medical debts sent to collection
• a 3.4 percent reduction in the share of nonelderly adults reporting fair or poor health.

The President also touted the redesign of payment systems, stating that an estimated 30 percent of traditional Medicare payments now flow through alternative payment models like bundled payments or accountable care organizations.

The result, according to Obama, is a sustained period of slow growth in per-enrollee healthcare spending and improvements in healthcare quality.

The article concludes that additional change is needed, and the President called on policymakers to push further reforms such as a public plan option in areas lacking individual market competition and strategies to reduce prescription drug costs.

"Although partisanship and special interest opposition remain, experience with the Affordable Care Act demonstrates that positive change is achievable on some of the nation’s most complex challenges," the President wrote.