Here is an overview of Obama's announcement today from the Washington Post's Amy Goldstein, Juliet Eilperin and William Branigin:
Under the change announced [today], insurance companies do not necessarily have to let consumers keep their individual plans that do not meet the new standards. Rather, states are given the option of allowing insurance companies to offer consumers the chance to keep their 2013 plans for another year. [But as we discussed in the above audio clip, many plans are gone, no longer licensed, marketed, housed in carrier systems and cannot simply be 'turned back on' in less than a month when insurers have been working toward these changes for three years.] ...
Washington later became the first state to announce that it would not allow insurers to extend their policies. Saying that its state-based exchange was “up and running and successfully enrolling thousands of consumers,” Mike Kreidler, the Washington state insurance commissioner, expressed “serious concerns” about Obama’s move and “its potential impact on the overall stability of our health insurance market.”
“In the interest of keeping the consumer protections we have enacted and ensuring that we keep health insurance costs down for all consumers, we are staying the course,” he said in a statement Thursday afternoon. ...
Democratic irritation with the White House is mounting as the House prepares to vote Friday on Upton’s bill, which would permit insurers to continue to sell health plans after this year even if they do not meet new federal standards. Democratic leadership aides predicted that at least some Democrats would support the measure.Letter to Insurance Commissioners from The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight
In the Senate, Democrats have offered proposals to calm consumers who are angry about canceled plans. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) introduced a bill Wednesday that would require insurers to give customers the chance to renew enrollment on certain health plans through the end of 2015. A measure sponsored by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) would require insurers to allow Americans to renew their plans indefinitely....
Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, said that all of the current bills pending in Congress, which would enable consumers on the individual market to extend their plans, could change the makeup of marketplaces’ risk pool and force insurers to raise prices.
“Premiums were set based on assumptions about people transitioning to the marketplaces,” Zirkelbach said. “Changing the rules in the middle of the game could dramatically change who actually signs up. If the exchanges become nothing more than a high-risk pool, that’s going to result in massive premium increases for consumers.”...
Here is the whole third hour from the Armstrong and Getty Show:
All Armstrong and Getty podcasts available here.
Playlist of Craig's Appearances on Armstrong and Getty in 2013 here.
