Obama tweaked his “you can keep your plan” statements made about Obamacare, The Associated Press has learned. President Obama’s comments about Americans being able to keep their plans turned out to be too simplistic.
President Obama’s attempts to simplify the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare so that more Americans can understand it weren’t well-thought out, says a report from The Associated Press this week.
Four years ago, Obama gave a nearly hour-long speech in front of the American Medical Association, where he said that “if you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period” under the provisions of the health care act.
On Monday, he changed his pledge, saying “you really liked that plan, what we said was you could keep it, if it hasn’t changed since the law passed,” ABC reported.
It was later revealed that some Americans’ plans would have to be taken away due to the law’s requirements to have tougher standards on insurance premiums. CNN also reported that millions of Americans have received notices from their insurance providers, saying they have been canceled.
Last week, Obama first tweaked his pledge, saying that “for the vast majority of people who have health insurance that works, you can keep it,” according to ABC.
Some Americans who lost their insurance plans in recent weeks weren’t impressed.
“I know the argument that Mr. Obama’s been making is that you get better coverage, but I’m just putting more money out there that I’m not going get anything back from,” said Lisa Dieckman, a retired woman who recently received a cancellation notice from her insurance company, according to NPR.
She continued, “In October, Kaiser sent me a packet saying they had to cancel my plan because it didn’t meet the standards of the Affordable Care Act ... But what threw me for a loop was that the comparable one, which is the cheapest bronze plan - it’s the cheapest thing I could get through Kaiser - is 127 percent higher.”
Obama also said years ago that enrolling in health insurance plans would be simple, akin to shopping on Amazon.com or for a “plane ticket.”
However, the HealthCare.gov enrollment experience has not been easy, simple, or functional. The vast, vast majority of Americans who have attempted to get health care plans through the website were bogged down with website errors and long waits. Preliminary reports say that only a half-dozen people signed up for an insurance plan on Oct. 1 when the website rolled out.
On Monday, Obama--in his changed pledge--said that “while virtually every insurer is offering new, better plans and competing for these folks’ business, I realize that can be scary for people if you just get some notice like that,” reported CNN.
“If you had or have one of these plans before the Affordable Care Act came into law and you really like that plan, what we said was, you could keep it if hasn’t changed since the law’s passed,” he said, adding that “you’re grandfathered in.”
Obama also argued that despite people losing their plans, they will be getting a better deal.
“Now, insurers are offering these new options, and they don’t just want to keep their current policyholders; they want to cover the uninsured, too,” he said.
Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau told AP that Obama’s message was caught between providing better health care coverage and not disrupting people who already had plans.
“To the extent that the two promises collide, that’s what we’re dealing with now,” he said.
And despite criticism against the health care law, Obama was defiant on Monday.
“I need your help to implement this law,” he said at the Organizing for Action group, according to the NY Daily News. “I need your help to educate folks about this law.”
