obamacare document

transcript:hi, everybody. if you’ve ever played a game of basketballin a gym, or entered a contest in school, or started a small business in your hometown,you know that competition is a good thing. it pushes us to do our best. and you know that a fight is fair only wheneverybody has a chance to win, when the playing field is level for everybody, and the rulesare clear and consistent. that’s important to our consumers, our workers,our employers, and our farmers. you deserve a fair shake, even though theremight be much bigger players in the market. without a truly competitive marketplace, thosebig companies can raise costs, or slack off

on offering good service, or keep their workers’wages too low. and in an era when large corporations oftenmerge to form even larger ones, our leaders have an even greater responsibility to lookout for us as consumers. to keep america’s economy growing and america’sbusinesses thriving, we need to protect the principle of fair competition. that’s not, by the way, a democratic ideaor a republican idea – it’s an american idea, because it’s the best way to makesure the best ideas rise to the top. my administration has done a lot to keep themarketplace fair. we defended a free, open, and accessible internetthat doesn’t let service providers pick

winners and losers. we cracked down on conflicts of interest bymaking sure professionals who give you retirement advice do so in your best interest, not intheirs. and in the last few months, we’ve made evenmore progress. this week, my department of agriculture tookmajor steps to protect farmers from unfair treatment by bigger processors. these rules will help swine, beef cattle,and especially poultry growers who have fewer choices in where they sell their products. this month, the fda started taking steps tomake hearing aids more affordable for more

than the nearly 30 million americans sufferingfrom the frustration of hearing loss. we think people with moderate hearing lossshould be able to buy a hearing aid over the counter as easily as you can buy reading glassesat your local pharmacy. this year we also addressed two other problemsthat keep workers and wages down: the overuse of non-compete agreements that hurt workersin the job market, and the unfair practices of companies that collude to set wages belowthe market rate. and we backed new steps, including a law ijust signed to fight robot scalpers that artificially drive up ticket prices, and a rule that requiresairlines to reimburse your baggage fees if your bags don’t make it to your destinationwhen you do.

finally, it’s this principle of competitionthat’s at the very heart of our health reform. in fact, it’s the reason we call it theaffordable care act; it makes insurance companies compete for your business, which is helpingmillions afford the care that helps them get and stay healthy. by the way, it’s open enrollment seasonright now. you can still sign up on healthcare.gov untiljanuary 31st and get covered for 2017. our free-market economy only works when there’scompetition. and competition only works when rules arein place to keep it fair and open and honest. whether you’re building the next big thingor just want to be treated right as a customer,

that’s good for you and good for the country. thanks everybody, and have a great weekend.