If you can't keep your insurance… where you stand

President Obama upset millions of Americans.  Over the past few years, he said that “If you like your health plan, you can keep it.”  This has turned out not to be true for 5% of Americans.

It appears these plans will be available at least for a little while.  

My Advice: Consider New Options

If this happened to me, I would be mad as hell.  Especially since it’s difficult to access the new plans.  I would be worried about prices and coverage.  But, I would research what I could.  In considering this scenario, I did the research anyway. 

Here’s what I’ve come up: 

-      Any plan that was created before the passage of the ACA in 2010 was “grandfathered’ into the new Marketplace. These remain. 

-      Any plan that was created or changed after 2010 that did not meet the requirements of the ACA would be cancelled at the end of 2013. 

So, yes, the President lied.  But, the plans that people want to keep are expensive and do not carry important consumer protections such as the 10 essential health care benefits.  “Individual policies have long been a problematic part of the insurance market, with higher prices than most group plans, fewer benefits and a tendency to cut people off when they get sick,” says a Washington Post article. 

I am sure with all of this debate that people will have a little longer to choose.  I am personally hopeful that the Marketplace Web site will be working by January 1^st.  I might wait to research coverage and pricing in the Marketplace and compare the information to my current plan.  After all, a plan from the Marketplace not only brings guaranteed better protections, but it also comes with a subsidy to lower the cost. 

Proposed Fixes:

1. Obama: These plans can carry on for one more year.

2. The Senate: A few plans similar to Obama’s have been proposed.  The Landrieu bill would allow for Americans on these plans to stay on them indefinitely.  The Udall bill would allow for these plans to stay around for two years. Then, they would be cancelled.

3. The House of Representatives: Americans on these plans can stay on them, and insurance companies can sell them to others who are shopping around for insurance.  This has already passed in the House and will need approval from the Senate and the President. 

Another twist to all of this: Any decision would also need approval by each state’s insurance commissioner.