When President Obama promised in 2009, “if you like your health plan, you will be able to keep your health plan,” he knew that millions of Americans who purchase their own health care insurance would lose it. An NBC News investigation found that “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.” Other experts say as many 80% of the 14 million individuals and families who purchase their own insurance will see their policies canceled due to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) a.k.a. Obamacare.
Just last month, the President boasted, “If you’re a young adult or entrepreneur striking out on your own, you’re covered. New entrepreneurs and others who are self-employed are among those finding a cancelation notice in their mailboxes. You could truthfully say they’re “striking out,” but the rest of the sentence is less than accurate.
As a self-employed America with her own policy, I’m holding my breath. Last month, I received a notice that my policy is currently “grandfathered in.” It’s not likely to stay that way. Department of Health and Human Services regulations state that if the insurance company should change anything—the co-pay, benefits, or deductible for example—my policy will no longer meet ACA standards and will be canceled.
Regulations originally stated, “As noted earlier, deciding to relinquish grandfather status is a one-way sorting process: after some period of time, most plans will relinquish their grandfathered status since plans rarely stay exactly the same.” The language was later softened before the regulation became final, but the prediction appears accurate. I’m on borrowed time.
Because I’ll likely have to visit sometime in the future, I checked into the Colorado health care exchange. I plugged in some numbers. Looks like my premium could increase and my deductive double to $6,700. Nice. A Denver Post article yesterday said that state insurance exchange officials are frustrated that so few people have signed up. I wonder why.
That the Administration knew millions of Americans like me would lose their insurance and still claimed otherwise while ramming the bill through Congress, angers me. But, because I consider it impolite to call someone a liar publically, I’m going to officially blame the teleprompter for the deceit.