At WSJ, "President's Comments Mark Departure From 'Keep Your Plan' Pledge":
The president's comments marked a departure from his previous defense of the law and his oft-repeated vow that "if you like your plan, you can keep your plan." Before Thursday, he had stood by his words, while adding some caveats. He had argued that the small percentage of people forced to buy new coverage would find more comprehensive plans in the new marketplace.More at the link.
About 15.4 million people—about 5% of the population—are covered by individual health plans. Industry experts have said many of them will see their policies terminated by the end of the year as insurers switch to plans that comply with the health law.
Mr. Obama repeated Thursday that only a small percentage of Americans were seeing their plans canceled, but he acknowledged it was "scary" for those people and conceded the law was responsible for their situation. "Obviously, we didn't do a good enough job in terms of how we crafted the law," he said. "That's something that we're going to do everything we can to get fixed."
Mr. Obama declined to spell out details but said the administration is considering a range of options. White House officials said the president was mainly referring to potential administrative fixes, rather than new legislation, to help those whose policies have been canceled and now face higher premiums.
A number of lawmakers have called for extending the open enrollment period that ends March 31 or delaying the mandate to carry coverage starting in 2014 or pay a penalty. On Thursday, Sens. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) and Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) proposed legislation that would delay the penalty for a year.
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