President Barack Obama told reporters Friday than he met with his Obamacare deputies every two or three weeks prior to the catastrophic rollout and crash in October.
“Since I’m in charge, obviously, we screwed it up.
“I probably beat myself up, you know, even worse that you or [Fox News reporter] Ed Henry does on any given day,” told ABC News reporter Jon Karl, who had asked him to identify his greatest mistake in 2013.
Since October, Obamacare has killed insurance policies held by more than five million people, and also restricted access to good doctors and hospitals, and spiked prices.
Amid the chaos, Obama also suspended numerous flawed parts of the increasingly unpopular law, including requirements for small and large companies. On Dec. 19, Obama allowed people whose policies have been canceled an exemption from rules that impose IRS penalties on people who don’t buy Obamacare compliant-policy.
The law’s mandates, and its chaotic rollout, have proved so unpopular that Obama’s polls have plunged from 50 percent to just under 40 percent.
“In a big project like this, what we are constantly doing is looking — ‘Is this working as it is supposed to?’ … We should make [fixes], but the [problems] don’t go to the core of the law,” Obama said.
Eight-five percent of Americans are benefiting from the law, he said, adding “the product is good.”