Obama steps in to push health plan as critical date draws near

(Reuters) - Fending off delays and a barrage of political criticism of his signature healthcare law, President Barack Obama on Thursday touted benefits Americans already are reaping from the law and vowed to work through setbacks to fully implement it. "Generally speaking, what we've seen is that healthcare costs have slowed drastically in a lot of areas since we passed the Affordable Care Act," Obama said at a White House event, surrounded by individuals who have seen their health insurance costs drop. "I recognize that there are a lot of folks, in this town at least, who are rooting for this law to fail," the president said. "What I've heard is just the same old song and dance. We're just going to blow through that stuff," he added.