I have a feeling Obama took a page from FDR. FDR was a populist but also very politically savvy.
When they first came up with the idea of social security, many people in his cabinet and democrats in congress wanted to make social security only for the poor at first.
FDR was like fukk that and said he wants EVERYONE to have it, including the rich. His reasoning was because he knew that at some point some Republican congress and president would come into power and he knew that the "money men" would coerce them to remove Social Security if it only helped the poor. So his reasoning was that he wants even the rich to pull from social security because they would feel "entitled" to those funds that they also paid into ir. This also removes the political capital from a Republican congress in getting rid of it in the future because even the rich benefit even though relatively speaking, its a drop in the bucket money wise compared to the poorer Americans.
Turns out he is right 70 something years later and no one is dare discussing about getting rid of Social security without fear they will piss a significant amount of people off. People like Paul Ryan flirt with modifying it but no one has the gall to outright remove it..yet
I have a feeling even if certain segments of the ACA is modified, there are many provisions that are over time going to become cemented that no congress will ever have the political capital to remove. Everyone knows someone who is sick and illness does not discriminate. The only problem is, and this is where Obama and the Democrats failed, is educating people exactly everything that is in ACA. There is still a sizeable portion of people who are ignorant and think ACA is a healthcare plan.
@Uncle Hotep is one of those individuals and I quote said "I don't have Obamacare" at one time. Everyone has Obamacare through the protections it provides in one way or another. Its not only about the marketplace exchanges. Democrats need to have a campaign to educate people on this matter.