Obama Admin. Knew Millions Could Not Keep Their Health Insurance

AP
Obama Admin. Knew Millions Could Not Keep Their Health Insurance


By: NBC News Investigators

President Obama repeatedly assured Americans that after the Affordable Care Act became law, people who liked their health insurance would be able to keep it. But millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years.

Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act tell NBC NEWS that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter or the equivalent over the next year because their existing policies don’t meet the standards mandated by the new health care law. One expert predicts that number could reach as high as 80 percent. And all say that many of those forced to buy pricier new policies will experience “sticker shock.”

None of this should come as a shock to the Obama administration. The law states that policies in effect as of March 23, 2010 will be “grandfathered,” meaning consumers can keep those policies even though they don’t meet requirements of the new health care law. But the Department of Health and Human Services then wrote regulations that narrowed that provision, by saying that if any part of a policy was significantly changed since that date -- the deductible, co-pay, or benefits, for example -- the policy would not be grandfathered.
Buried in Obamacare regulations from July 2010 is an estimate that because of normal turnover in the individual insurance market, “40 to 67 percent” of customers will not be able to keep their policy. And because many policies will have been changed since the key date, “the percentage of individual market policies losing grandfather status in a given year exceeds the 40 to 67 percent range.”

That means the administration knew that more than 40 to 67 percent of those in the individual market would not be able to keep their plans, even if they liked them.
Yet President Obama, who had promised in 2009, “if you like your health plan, you will be able to keep your health plan,” was still saying in 2012, “If [you] already have health insurance, you will keep your health insurance.”
“This says that when they made the promise, they knew half the people in this market outright couldn’t keep what they had and then they wrote the rules so that others couldn’t make it either,” said Robert Laszewski, of Health Policy and Strategy Associates, a consultant who works for health industry firms. Laszewski estimates that 80 percent of those in the individual market will not be able to keep their current policies and will have to buy insurance that meets requirements of the new law, which generally requires a richer package of benefits than most policies today.

The White House does not dispute that many in the individual market will lose their current coverage, but argues they will be offered better coverage in its place, and that many will get tax subsidies that would offset any increased costs. “One of the main goals of the law is to ensure that people have insurance they can rely on – that doesn’t discriminate or charge more based on pre-existing conditions. The consumers who are getting notices are in plans that do not provide all these protections – but in the vast majority of cases, those same insurers will automatically shift their enrollees to a plan that provides new consumer protections and, for nearly half of individual market enrollees, discounts through premium tax credits,” said White House spokesperson Jessica Santillo.


Read the full story at NBC News Investigations→

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Tietrack37 minutes ago




Tales from the Train Wreck: Obama will play dumb as usual and say he heard it on the News.
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HittietheHittite1 hour ago




How can Nancy Pelosi feel so confident she will be re-elected after this hits the fan?
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nolefan31 hour ago




@HittietheHittite I guess the majority of people in Californication are just that dumb.

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cuckooroller1 hour ago






@HittietheHittite

Are you kidding! She represents the congressional district of Gomorrah, smack dab in the middle of dingbat country, downtown San Francisco. Her constituents walk around in broad daylight stark naked, with their jewels flopping about, fornicating in the bushes.



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HittietheHittite1 hour ago




If you like your healthcare plan you can keep it for a cost, a higher cost for premiums, and deductibles. If you decide to pay for services separately, you will be taxed for having better healthcare than the government sanctioned death panels available to the American public. I'm wondering what the young people think now.
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nolefan31 hour ago




@HittietheHittite After so many years of public school indoctrination by liberal teachers, it's a wonder they can think at all.

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5466ron1 hour ago




I'm sure he'd say that the end justifies the means, like any good Commie.
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HittietheHittite1 hour ago




The whole purpose of allowing HHS to write all the policies that literally changed this law by 17,000 pages from the original 2,500 law the president signed in 2010, was to corral Americans into Single Payer Healthcare without legislation from Congress.
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pwjtex1 hour ago




Not to worry! Obama will say it was not his fault, it's the fault of the insurance companies! How dare they change their policy offerings just to comply with ObamaCare mandates!
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HittietheHittite1 hour ago




Feeling Nudged from behind yet?
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docozzy1 hour ago




I find it fascinating that NBCNews has removed this story from their website
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JinOH1 hour ago






Uh, duh? This guy has always been a pathetic fraud, but he gives stuff away. Duh again.




This country is screwed.




Just watch how fast this news disappears.




The evil has landed.



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kixelsyd1 hour ago




Repeal. Impeach. Hang.
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carld1 hour ago




So, in 2009 he said if you like your insurance you can keep it. Of course if they don't "significantly modify the policy after July 2010 then the policy was grandfathered in. Sounds like to me at the time he said that, no one had to lose their insurance.
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airplayer49 minutes ago






@carld

was there a freeze on premium increases too back in 2009? kind of hard to grasp the concept of insuring 30 to 40 million more people and have the cost, to do so, go down by 2500 dollars.


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45ACP_22 hours ago




The absence of any trolls gives great credence to this story. I guess they can't find anything to deflect to.

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hopeandshame1 hour ago




@45ACP_2 I noticed that too. Trolls always run their mouths until there is a story that's indefensible.
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airplayer2 hours ago




of course the obama administration knew about this. you know how I knew that many people would NOT be able to keep their own insurance plan or doctor, if they liked what they had? because obama said they WOULD.
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hojosprengeler2 hours ago




It's amazing that some people are just now finding out that this was a lie from the beginning. Weren't we told 3.5 years ago that this was going to happen? It's not news to me.
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BruceHood2 hours ago




nbc has pulled the story or they have the same people running their website as obama care

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presidentcamelturd2 hours ago




@BruceHood Yeah I noticed that. I envision Chrissy Tingles in the server rooms pulling wires out like mad trying to cover for his crush.

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BruceHood2 hours ago




well, well, the nbc website that broke this story is down...imagine that. I have been had by blue cross in ca. They kept bumping my premiums until they told me that the coverage was no longer available and I had to change so I did and now I know why....based on the information in this story I will also be canceled.....You know they should pass a law that would force the obama administration to post a warning any time the pres speaks informing them that there is a 98% chance they are being lied too......kind of like the warning on a pack of cigs

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Thunder2262 hours ago




@BruceHood more like a 100% chance he will lie
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nolefan31 hour ago




@BruceHood He's going to prove more of a danger to humans than cigarettes ever were.

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dixiebel2 hours ago




Wake up, people. Obama doesn't care about you. He only cares about his agenda-- the fundamental transformation of America.
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nolefan31 hour ago




@dixiebel The only one he cares about is HIMSELF.

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lifeisnotfair2 hours ago




Odumbo has a new mantra! "You can't keep your money, even if you like it, even if you earned it"
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lifeisnotfair2 hours ago




The trolls and libs have to go thru a traumatic like divorce with odumbo. They are all at the Denial Stage. And you know what levels people will go to to support their fantasy.
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BruceHood2 hours ago




shazam
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uzijohn2 hours ago






More expensive than claimed, more than people want to spend, huge deductibles,

over-intrusive by design and demonstrated on launch to be run by incompetents.




Perhaps Vladimir Putin will send his condolences, after all, if anyone has suffered from

foolish ideas, pushed on them by idealistic dreamers, it's the Russian people...


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steveinwaco2 hours ago




Dear liberals, this little man you put in the Whitehouse doesn't care about you or your family...you are just props and set pieces for his comedy of errors. When this abortion of a presidency is finally over, all us conservatives will go into the grief counseling business and help you through the tough times ahead. Hurry and get on whatever hand-out programs you can qualify for. They may become very scarce sooner than you think.
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mcveigh2 hours ago






@steveinwaco

To paraphase Bon Jovi...you gave abortion, a bad name.....



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JJinNV2 hours ago




Seldom S is paid by think progressive

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mcveigh2 hours ago






@JJinNV

Kochs bad

Soros good.



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JJinNV2 hours ago




@mcveigh @JJinNV reverse that

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fresnojoe2 hours ago






Praying~!

God Save Our Children



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Seldom_S2 hours ago






@fresnojoe

A lot of good that will do.


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mcveigh2 hours ago






@fresnojoe

Too late. Check out two terms for Obama and the comments of his voters, ie, trolls.

The only hope is to begin by taking back the school boards. Bush the idiot didn't abolish the Dept of Education when he had the chance, so America's job is made harder



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push2 hours ago




Benghazi, impeach obama now. get moochelle and the girls out of our white house.
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Seldom_S2 hours ago






@push

What in the world do you have against Michelle and the girls?


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truetexan18352 hours ago




@Seldom_S @push They run with the pack.
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presidentcamelturd2 hours ago




@Seldom_S @push A wookie and a couple of ewoks shouldn't live in the White House. Furminators aren't in the budget and that furniture is expensive.

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mcveigh2 hours ago






Seldom asks another participant what the GOP's solution is to a nation of takers; that calling worthless slugs 'takers' is not the route to electoral victory.




The GOP convention featured several speakers who spoke about their admiration of America, and how hard work could lead to individual success.

The takers were not watching or were not interested in hard work. Unless Seldom has another explanation for why Obama won.......



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Seldom_S2 hours ago






@mcveigh

And the admitted racist is back.


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obamas fault2 hours ago




You never left did you?
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Seldom_S2 hours ago






@obamas fault

No, which is why it's obviously not me.

Your logic doesn't even hold up.


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obamas fault2 hours ago




I wasn't the one that admitted I was a r a c i s t...You did!!
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obamas fault2 hours ago




You confused?...Most obama voters are....
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truetexan18352 hours ago




@Seldom_S @mcveigh Pulling the old race card AGAIN.
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obamas fault2 hours ago




LOL...obama care k i c k e d 300,000 fl or id a people off insurance.....Hey Fl o rid a....You got what you voted for...A L O S E R and his policies
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