Perhaps the biggest indicator of success is his own experience with how the law works: Begala and his family are enrolled in Obamacare.

"Once you got past that first rollout, it's been good," he said. "It's been great for me and my family."

Carlson, editor-in-chief of The DailyCaller.com and co-host of Fox and Friends Weekend, was quicker to bash PPACA, slamming the law as the result of lobbying at its best.

"This is the ugliest kind of legislation by lobbying that's ever been," he said. "It's an inside game. The administration will say, 'This law was for you, and you needed it.' That's not true. You and the rest of the country got left out."

"Part of my frustration with Obamacare is the way it was sold and oversold," Carlson said. "It was based on deceit."

Carlson also criticized how quickly PPACA was thrown together and fed to the public, citing the debate over the subsidies language, and the subsequent Supreme Court case King vs. Burwell, as an example of this.

"There was a drafting error in the single most important legislation document in my lifetime. Really?" Carlson said. "The legislation was so shoddily constructed that it's actually offensive. It's offensive to the public."

Begala agreed, criticizing the administration for not having a backup plan should the court kill the subsidies.

"Most of the people in Obamacare get that subsidy," he said. "And there is no backup plan — in either party. It's a disaster—and in that case, maybe the court will have common sense and admit it's just a drafting error."

But Begala is not completely confident that will be the case.

"I have zero faith in the court,." he said. "They don't live in the real world; they are entirely too political — more than any in the history of the court."

Plus, Begala noted, the Supreme Court already saved PPACA once, so it very well could, "in the second bite of the apple, throw it out. It could go either way; it really can."

The Supreme Court is expected to make a ruling in the case in June.

But despite the subsidies case ruling, and for better or for worse, the health care reform law is here to stay, they both agreed.

"It's here to stay," Carlson said. "People yearn for predictability. Ten years from now, they will be getting an inferior product at a higher cost. Republicans were wise to understand that once you implement it people will come to expect it. Soon, they will settle for less in exchange for predictability.

Both pundits addressed problems with the Republican party — namely, the fact that the GOP continues to rally for repeal of the law without getting into specifics on how they would fix the law.

The rallying cry is way past its due date, they said.

"The Republicans … it becomes like a stalker thing," Begala said. "They stand in front the White House with a boombox saying I hate Obamacare."

That sentiment was among a main theme they pressed during the nearly 90 minute headliner: Adapt or die. The political party that's willing to adapt and rapidly change as the times change is the party that will succeed over time, they said. And it's also a lesson for business and in particular, for benefits brokers, Begala said.

"[These politicians and presidential contenders] are trying to adapt," Begala said. "And I guarantee that's what you're doing in your business, or else you wouldn't be here."

But there is a striking difference between brokers and those in politics, he continued.

"What you do," he said to the crowded room, "you help people. You help them live the life they want to live. Not so much in politics. What you do is really important."