Obama: Enough have enrolled for stable health care

Charles Dharapak / AP

In this Oct. 21, 2013, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks during an event in the Rose Garden of the White House on the initial rollout of the health care overhaul, in Washington.

Associated Press

Friday, March 14, 2014 | 9:15 a.m.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says enough people have signed up for health care to make his signature law work.

Obama tells medical web site WebMD that the 4.2 million people enrolled for this year "is already large enough that I'm confident the program will be stable."

The president acknowledges in an interview posted Friday that the mix of people who sign up is actually more important than the number. More young and healthy people need to enroll to offset the cost of caring for older, sicker patients.

Obama's 30-minute interview with the health information web site is part of his campaign to get more Americans to enroll before the March 31 deadline to get coverage for this year.