House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi today defended Obamacare, saying the law is a “winner” that will greatly benefit Americans.

Minority leader Nancy Pelosi (AP file)

"The facts are these: Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, the growth in healthcare costs has slowed dramatically. That includes the cost paid by government, by businesses and individuals," she said, according to accounts from The Hill, ABC and CNN.

Pelosi said that increases in health care premiums that many Americans face would have been greater if not for the law. Health insurance trade groups have said that premiums may as much as double this year in some parts of the country.

The Democratic leadership was marking the four-year anniversary of the president’s signing the bill into law. The law was signed on March 23, 2010.

Republicans called the press event an "hour-long gaffefest disguised as a press conference." The GOP has seized on Obamacare's problems as a campaign issue, a plan Pelosi said would fail.

"We don't weigh its value as to what it means politically. We weigh its value as to what it means to the health, well-being, economic and health security of America's families," she said. "We just couldn't be prouder."