WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama this week defended the latest delay in his healthcare law’s employer mandate, saying it follows similar relief his administration has already given to certain individuals.

In an apparent response to heightened Republican criticism, the president also asserted that the law known as Obamacare will be “good for” the U.S. economy, despite a recent government estimate that it will shrink the labor force by the equivalent of 2.5 million full-time workers over the next decade.

“Our goal here is not to punish folks. Our goal is to make sure that we’ve got people who can count on the financial security that health insurance provides,” Obama said at a joint news conference with French President Francois Hollande.

Obama was speaking a day after his administration announced a new delay in a contentious requirement that all but the smallest businesses provide health coverage for their full-time employees or pay a tax penalty.

New regulations give medium-sized businesses an additional year to comply and phase in the same requirement for large employers.

Republicans in Congress responded to Monday’s announcement by renewing calls for a delay in the law’s individual mandate, which requires most Americans to enroll in health insurance by March 31 of this year or pay a penalty. The White House rejects any such delay as a move that would undermine the law.

Obama said the latest change brings the employer mandate into line with the existing approach for individual consumers, including lower income people who qualify for a tax credit and other subsidies to help pay for insurance.

Obama and his fellow Democrats are locked in an escalating debate with Republicans at the start of a congressional midterm election campaign that will determine which party controls Congress.

Republicans hope to use Obamacare’s lack of popularity with voters to erode support for Democratic candidates, especially vulnerable incumbent senators whose seats could help the Republican Party take the Senate in November.

The rocky rollout of Obamacare has been a boon to Republicans. The law suffered technical glitches that temporarily paralyzed the federal website HealthCare.gov last year, and Obama faced a public outcry over millions of private health insurance policyholders who had their plans canceled because they do not comply with the law’s new quality standards.