Whoa — Associated Press Gets Real on #ObamaCare!

Man, how times change!

What's amazing to me with the ObamaCare debacle is how the normally boot-licking Democrat press has been consistently tearing into the administration. Associated Press was savaged during the Bush years as a hopeless shill for the anti-American left. But these days you'd think AP was an in-house organ at Fox News.

See, "Health policy cancellations are new blow for administration" (via Laura Ingraham).

The AP on Obamacare: Ins. cancellations are new blow for administration: http://t.co/pRQ2RuczDa #changehascometoAmerica

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) October 30, 2013

And at the AP homepage, "STICKER SHOCK OFTEN FOLLOWS INSURANCE CANCELLATION" (via Lonely Con), and "OBAMA'S HEALTH LAW FINALLY GETS REAL FOR AMERICA":

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Now is when Americans start figuring out that President Barack Obama's health care law goes beyond political talk, and really does affect them and people they know.

With a cranky federal website complicating access to new coverage and some consumers being notified their existing plans are going away, the potential for winners and losers is creating anxiety and confusion....

The Obama administration insists nobody will lose coverage as a result of cancellation notices going out to millions of people. At least 3.5 million Americans have been issued cancellations, but the exact number is unclear. Associated Press checks find that data is unavailable in a half the states.

Mainly they are people who buy directly from an insurer, instead of having workplace coverage. Officials say these consumers aren't getting "canceled" but "transitioned" or "migrated" to better plans because their current coverage doesn't meet minimum standards. They won't have to go uninsured, and some could save a lot if they qualify for the law's tax credits.

Speaking in Boston's historic Faneuil Hall this past week, Obama said the problem is limited to fewer than 5 percent of Americans "who've got cut-rate plans that don't offer real financial protection in the event of a serious illness or an accident."

But in a nation of more than 300 million, 5 percent is a big number - about 15 million people. Among them are Ian and Sara Hodge of Lancaster, Pa., in their early 60s and paying $1,041 a month for a policy.

After insurer Highmark, Inc., sent the Hodges a cancellation notice, the cheapest rate they say they've been able to find is $1,400 for a comparable plan. Ian is worried they may not qualify for tax credits, and doesn't trust that the federal website is secure enough to enter personal financial information in order to find out.

"We feel like we're being punished for doing the right thing," he said.

Their policy may not have met the government's standards, "but it certainly met our minimum standards," Hodge added.

"The main thing that upsets us is the president ... said over and over and over again: If you like your health plan, you will be able to keep your health plan, guaranteed."

There's a chance the number of people getting unwanted terminations may grow. In 2015, the law's requirement that larger companies provide health insurance will take effect. It's expected that a small share of firms will drop coverage, deciding that it's cheaper to pay fines imposed under the law.

The piece notes that some people have seen improved coverage under the law, but attitudes are overall negative and more change --- adverse change --- is coming down the pipeline, especially once the employer mandate kicks in after 2015:

Up to now, the changes for employer plans have been incremental. They tend to expand benefits, not take things away.

For example, young adults can stay on a parent's coverage until they turn 26. Employers cover women's birth control as a preventive service, free of charge. Screening tests such as colonoscopies are also free.

But cost control provisions, mainly a tax on expensive insurance plans that starts in 2018, are converging with the long-standing push by employers to tame health costs. Some companies have raised deductibles and copayments for employees, saying they need to scale back to avoid tangling with the coming tax. Others are giving employees a fixed amount of money to shop in private health insurance markets that resemble those created by the law.

Expect cutbacks to be blamed on the law. Sorting out whether that's warranted may be difficult.

"What the Affordable Care Act did was give companies a very convenient excuse to say `Oh, gosh, we really have to get serious about insurance costs,'" said Paul Keckley, an independent health benefits consultant. "I think there's a bit of a bob and weave. The ACA was a convenient excuse for doing what (corporate) human resources departments have been calculating to do for years."