“The bottom line,” Obama said, “is we are making the insurance market better for everyone.”

Speaking to about 200 supporters in a small ballroom of the St. Regis Hotel in Washington, DC, Obama praised the work of volunteers in enacting the landmark healthcare law in 2010. He echoed the frustration many activists feel about the balky website that is keeping millions from enrolling in state health exchanges and said, as he has been doing for a month, that no one is angrier than he about the rollout.

“Let’s face it, a lot of us didn’t realize that passing the law was the easy part,” Obama said.

Obama’s explanation Monday is similar, but a step beyond what he said last week during his healthcare speech in Boston. That speech marked the president’s first foray beyond the simpler message he had been pitching.

“Ever since the law was passed, if insurers decided to downgrade or cancel those substandard plans, they have had to replace them with quality, comprehensive coverage,” Obama said last week. “Because that too was a central promise of the Affordable Care Act – from the very beginning.”