On Thursday President Obama announced his administration would be making changes to the Affordable Care Act. The changes are intended to lower the number of Americans whose existing health care plans are getting canceled. The Affordable Care Act is currently offering "grandfathering" to individuals with insurance plans that have remained unchanged since February 23, 2010. If their insurance providers chose to cover them people under these plans may keep them regardless of whether or not they meet the new requirements under the Affordable Care Act.
The Obama administration has announced that it will allow an extension of this treatment to those who are on insurance plans that have been changes since February 23, 2010. The president is allowing a one-year extension for those apart of the changed plans so that Americans will stop losing their health care coverage. "This fix won't solve every problem for every person, but it's going to help a lot of people,' Obama said while making the announcement. "Doing more will require work with Congress," the president added.
The press attending the president's announcement hit Obama hard with questions calling him out on his failed promises regarding his health care plan. CBS reporter Major Garrett asked the president about his failed promise telling Americans they would be able to keep their own health plans if they chose to. Obama simply said that that statement "ended up not being accurate" due to the "insufficient" grandfathering provisions written into the law. "That's why I'm trying to fix it," Obama said.
According to the Washington Post, Insurers are grateful to the president for attempting to fix the problems and help consumers' concerns. The companies are also concerned that the risk pool in the new state and federal health care markets will become distorted. Karen Ignani, president and chief executive of America's Health Insurance Plans spoke with the Washington Post about these concerns saying, "Changing the rules after health plans have already met the requirements of the law could destabilize the market and result in higher premiums for consumers."
"Premiums have already been set for next year based on an assumption of when consumers will be transitioning to the new marketplace. If now fewer younger and healthier people choose to purchase coverage in the exchange, premiums will increase and there will be fewer choices for consumers," Ignani continued. There have been millions of Americans who have had their health insurance canceled after receiving notices saying their plans do not meet the requirements by law.
Despite the split in Congress over the Affordable Health Care Act and the fact that some Democrats are starting to doubt the president, Obama remains optimistic. The president feels his administration will be able to work out the kinks in the law and get it running smoothly. "We fumbled the roll out of the health care law," Obama said. "I'm confident by the time we look back on this next year, people are going to say 'This is working well.'"
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