Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the House Minority Whip, regrets he has used the moniker "Obamacare" to reference President Barack Obama's signature healthcare program,
according to McClatchy Newspapers.
"Yeah, I wish I hadn't called it 'Obamacare' before, because that has politicized it and has been used by Republicans as a pejorative term," Hoyer said.
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The White House decided to embrace 'Obamacare' rather than fight it even encouraging supporters to use the Twitter hashtag "#ilikeobamacare."
"You want to call it 'Obamacare' — that's okay, because I do care," the president declared at an Atlanta fundraiser in 2012. He also told a University of Denver audience that same year, "I actually like the name. Because I do care — that's why we fought so hard to make it happen."
According to the Washington Times, Hoyer told reporters on Tuesday, "The Affordable Care Act is the Affordable Care Act" and a fundamentally positive development for Americans.
"You know what Obama says, though, which I think is correct?" Hoyer remarked. "He says it's going to be called by the Republicans — Obamacare — right up until the time it works."
The term "Obamacare" was probably first used publicly in March 2007 by Jeanne Schulte Scott in
the trade magazine Healthcare Financial Management,
according to The Wire.
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