On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama won the presidential election; Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States on January 20, 2009. Originally, Obama 's health care plan did not include a mandate and was criticized. In the Jan. 2008 presidential primary debate, his response to the criticism was, "A mandate means that in some fashion, everybody will be forced to buy health insurance. Instead of going that route, his plan, he said, "emphasizes lowering costs." … the government will