Why would the President say that "if you like your plan, you can keep your plan"??

[kentuck]

Unless he was under the impression that policies would be "grandfathered" in and no one ever told him any different?

Why didn't anyone tell him if he was wrong? Why didn't the media question his statement?

Did no one get their policies canceled last year?? And why didn't they raise the question then?

There are a lot of questions in this whole mess.

[Scuba]

1. He underestimated the stupidy of Americans?

[CreekDog]

2. the way the law was written is why and with good reason he thought so

the way the law was written allowed policies in effect at the time ACA became law to be grandfathered in, not have to meet new standards.

the catch was that the policy in effect at the time ACA became law would be eligible for grandfathering in IF there were no significant changes to the policy since ACA was adopted.

many of those policies were changed so they became ineligible for the grandfathering.

many policies, the insurance companies *chose* to stop offering, so this wasn't the fault of ACA but of the insurance companies.

and even the changed policies did not need to be cancelled this year, there was a grace period of one year allowed for the policies to come into compliance, so anybody being cancelled now...that's the choice of the insurance companies, not any forcing from ACA.

[kentuck]

3. The truth is putting on its shoes...

I think.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

7. Comfortable shoes?

[seattle15]

4. How was he wrong?

The plans that are being canceled provide substandard coverage so they aren't anything any rational person would want.

[kentuck]

5. The insurance companies were not aboveboard in their dealings...

see link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023999304

[TheKentuckian]

10. Any such expectation is borderingon the insane, that is much of why we are having the

conversation. You know because we are dealing with a predatory cartel.

In fact, the reform is wrongheaded I no small part because it is sustainably based on the premise that we are abusing the cartel and over utilizing care, rolling big in our Cadillac plans.

He made the statement because he was pitching the American people and doing so under the deep assumption that most folks didn't want any change.

[cherokeeprogressive]

8. When I hear a Declarative Sentence that ends in the word "PERIOD"...

my inference is - that statement needs no qualification, clarification, OR interpretation. Whatsoever. Period. It. Is. What. It. Is. In the famous words of Earl Scheib: "No UPS, No EXTRAS!"

These were President Obama's words on June 15, 2009:

"We will keep this promise to the American people: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. PERIOD... If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. PERIOD."

I'm a fairly rational person and I hope I'm not giving myself too much credit by believing I might not be the least intelligent person you encounter today, but I'm gonna step out on a thin limb and say it's not for you to judge what "any rational person would want". That's not for you nor is it for the government to say. Say it you did though. Not only is the government saying it, the government is enforcing it as though it knows the mind of the populace. Not good.

Here are my worries for 2014, and 2016: At the moment, we're talking about the health care plan which isn't even in effect yet, and it's already affecting millions with cancellations and higher costs (spare me the "better coverage" stuff, I already know that).

Jump ahead to 2014, when the health care plan IS in effect... How many are going to be told THEIR doctor doesn't participate in the "plan"? Millions? Tens of millions? By then the circle jerk of the healthcare.gov rollout will be in the rearview mirror, but HOT DAMN, turn the high beams on and what's ahead? "Why can't I see the doctor I've been seeing for months, years, or my WHOLE LIFE?" A whole LOT of people (who VOTE, by the way) aren't going to be happy about having someone they've never met sticking a finger up their ass, a speculum in their vagina, or a needle in their vein... Again, NOT GOOD.

Pretzels. A lot of Democrats hoping to keep their Congressional and Senate seats had better start limbering up, because they're going to have to learn to twist their bodies into pretzel shapes to justify those people LOSING their DOCTORS, which at the moment seems to be lost in the mix.

"Your DOCTOR sucked and you're going to be better off" doesn't quite have the same reassuring ring as "Your PLAN sucked and you're going to be better off".

We're going to stumble into 2016 STILL trying to straighten this mess out. Would that we could have had the PUBLIC OPTION that was tossed in our direction like we were so many fish and it was the lure... and this stumbling will put SINGLE PAYER off by a generation.

[Ms. Toad]

11. The law does not prohibit anyone from keeping the policy they like.

That is what the grandfather provisions were about.

But - no insurance company, and no employer, is ever required to continue to offer a particular plan. If they no longer offer the plan, that because they exercised their rights to make changes.

It was an incomplete sound byte. A more complete one would have been, "We will keep this promise to the American people: If you like your doctor, nothing in this law will prevent you from keeping your doctor. PERIOD... If you like your health care plan nothing in this law will prevent you from keeping your health care plan. PERIOD."

[cherokeeprogressive]

12. An "incomplete sound byte" happens when someone turns off the microphone too soon.

Nothing happens by accident in this day of high-paid political advisors. I know that, and YOU know that. EVERY word the President speaks in public (by way of "speechifying) is written beforehand and discussed ad nauseum before he speaks.

Woulda, coulda, and shoulda? I would have been an Astronaut.

I'll stand by my post: This is future trouble.

[RobinA]

6. He Was

fairly clueless about the reality of the health insurance situation. Kinda like Bush Sr and the supermarket scanner. Presidents these days don't have a lot of contact with the real world and probably haven't for quite awhile before they get to be President.

[JaneyVee]

9. He should've said "If you like dive bombing the ER because the shitty insurance

You were scammed into buying pays zero dollars towards anything over $20 while costing you $31000 dollars in out of pocket medical bills well then too fucking bad."

[Brigid]

13. I think he just didn't realize . . .

How many people had these worthless policies that did not meet ACA stsndards.

[YoungDemCA]

14. Political convenience

nt

[Lifelong Dem]

15. I think it was just easier to say what he said

Keeping it simple for people to understand is always best. Most of us know the President meant well.