With hugs, laughs and good-natured ribbing, Barack Obama has returned to the White House for the first time in more than five years to savor the 12th anniversary of his signature healthcare law and give a boost to President Joe Biden’s efforts to expand it.

The Affordable Care Act has survived repeated repeal attempts by Republicans.

Biden, who was Obama’s No.2 when “Obamacare” became law in March 2010, wants to extend the law’s reach to even more than the current millions. He gave all the credit for the original law to the former president.

“It’s because of you,” Biden said after good-naturedly introducing himself as Obama’s vice president. Biden said the law “shows hope leads to change,” a play on Obama’s “hope and change” campaign slogan.

Obama was last at the White House on January 20, 2017, when he left to escort Donald Trump, the successor bent on overturning the law, to the Capitol to be inaugurated. He spent more than four hours on Wednesday meeting with Biden and greeting White House staff in what was hoped would be a morale boost for the administration.

“It’s good to be back in the White House. It’s been a while,” he said after Vice President Kamala Harris introduced him in the East Room.

Obama opened by referring to Biden as “vice president” before acknowledging that was a “set up” joke and embracing his former No.2.

Obama said he and Biden accomplished “a lot” in their eight years but “nothing made me prouder than providing better healthcare and more protections to millions of people across this country.”

“The ACA was an example of why you run for office in the first place,” Obama said, calling it the “high point of my time here.”

Biden called the Affordable Care Act the most consequential legislation since Medicare and Medicaid were created in 1965, and insisted it must be expanded to more people.

“We can do this. We should do this. We have to do this,” Biden said.

He said the law has been called a lot of things, “but Obamacare is the most fitting.”

To mark the 12th anniversary of the law, Biden signed an executive order directing federal agencies to look for ways to continue to expand the availability and quality of affordable healthcare.

He also highlighted ongoing efforts to close a “family glitch” in implementation of the 2010 law that his administration believes will help 200,000 more people gain affordable coverage.

President Joe Biden welcomes former president Barack Obama back to the White House as Vice President Kamala Harris looks on. - AP

Obama warmed up the crowd with a few deadpan jokes about how things around the White House had changed under Biden, leaning into the current occupant’s affinity for sunglasses and ice cream and his taste in pets.

He quipped that Secret Service agents now have to wear aviator sunglasses, the White House mess has been replaced by a Baskin-Robbins and “there’s a cat running around”.

“I guarantee you Bo and Sunny would have been very unhappy about it,” Obama added, referencing the his family’s dogs.

As for “Obamacare,” the law’s staying power has been enhanced by three Supreme Court victories and the late Senator John McCain’s emphatic thumbs-down vote that took the wind out of then-President Trump’s efforts to repeal and replace it.

Former president Barack Obama and President Joe Biden at the White House. – AP