Obama says 'sorry' to Americans losing health insurance

[webfact]

US President says 'sorry' to Americans losing health insurance

WASHINGTON: -- President Barack Obama said Thursday he was "sorry" for Americans who had insurance plans cancelled because of his health care law, even though he had promised they would not. "I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me," Obama told NBC News in an interview.

Obama's mea culpa came amid a controversy over his repeated assurances that if Americans liked their existing health insurance plans, they could keep it under his signature health care reform.

Thousands of Americans have since received notices from their health insurance companies that their policies will be cancelled.

The White House defended Obama by saying that the policies were scrapped because they did not comply with more stringent standards required by Obamacare and that those who lost policies would be able to buy better coverage under new health exchanges.

"We've got to work hard to make sure that they know we hear them and we are going to do everything we can to deal with folks who find themselves in a tough position as a consequence of this," Obama said in the interview.
Obama, who repeatedly told Americans that they could keep their health insurance if they liked it, said he is looking at "a range of options" to help people whose insurance plans are being canceled.

Senators urge US president to delay parts of health law
Concerned Senate Democrats urged President Barack Obama to extend the enrollment period for his misfiring health care law, during a meeting at the White House on Wednesday.

Full story: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_11_08/US-President-says-sorry-to-Americans-losing-health-insurance-6089/

-- THE VOICE OF RUSSIA 2013-11-08

[Loptr]

Sorry hardly does it Mr President. It is within your power to change the restrictions on policy types and coverage, but you won't. So platitudes will have to do.

Millions are losing their health care coverage in the US while being forced to replace them with policies at much higher rates and deductibles. Once again the insurance companies have struck gold on the backs of the middle class. Ironically, the very people Mr Obama was trying to protect.

Edited November 8, 2013 by Loptr

[Ulysses G.]

He should have apologized for lying, because that is what he did.

[Loptr]

He should have apologized for lying, because that is what he did.

At least 23 times...

[Credo]

And some posters seem to be telling porkies as well:

From the OP:

Thousands of Americans have since received notices from their health insurance companies that their policies will be cancelled.

From Loptr:

Millions are losing their health care coverage

Anyway, get all those toxic anti-Obama juices out of your system. You'll feel better.

[Ulysses G.]

Millions are in the process of losing their health care. No "porkie" there.

Healthcare Expert Says ObamaCare Will Force 129 Million to Lose or Alter Their Plan; Not 'Keep It' http://www.christianpost.com/news/healthcare-expert-says-obamacare-will-force-129-million-to-lose-or-alter-their-plan-not-keep-it-108058/

[Scott]

Off-topic post deleted.

[Credo]

Sorry, UG, because someone's plan is altered, doesn't mean they will lose it. Oh, and how many will now be getting insurance?

[Ulysses G.]

"If you like your plan, you can keep it. Period", does not mean an altered plan and if they are more expensive, that violates another promise.

[Joe Mamma]

I found a reasonable witchdoctor in Papua.

[Qman]

The Affordable Health Care Act is hardly affordable as we are seeing cancellations of people's existing coverage which may have been suitable and appropriate for their needs only to be replaced with "better" coverage which in many cases contains a lot of areas which may be of no interest to the insured. Why would middle aged and old people want to pay a premium for coverage including pregnancy benefits, abortions, ext. which are not needed for them and conversely, why would young people want to pay extra for benefits designed for older people such as colonoscopy screening, etc. Obamacare was passed with limited review and understanding and now people are experiencing that one-size-fits-all coverage is not in their best interest economically especially when combined with adding millions to the Medicaid roles. Someone has to pay for this and younger, healthier people will foot the bill and many are working hard to afford family obligations and save for things like education, future retirement, etc. Obamacare was sold with few knowing the impact and reality is setting in. It also took a long, long time for Obama to say "sorry" and surely only after his own party said you must do something. Doubtful it was a sincere apology for his actions. His narcissism and ego will forever be an impediment to a viable national health care system as he struggles to admit his failings which are seemingly becoming ever frequent.

[uptheos]

He should have apologized for lying, because that is what he did.

Period!

[lomatopo]

Full disclosure: I voted for Obama, twice.

What is so hard to understand is why he failed to closely manage, perhaps even micro-manage, the entire ACA implementation process instead of assuming everything would work. Some may say that the POTUS must delegate and hope for the best, but for a program that may well be his only lasting legacy he should have had the best/brightest working on this and reporting weekly on the status. Many have commented on the sophisticated systems Obama and the Dems used to raise money, target outreach and get out the vote, and the brains/software/systems behind those highly successful efforts. It just seems like it would have been fairly simple to get some of those same people to manage the ACA/Healthcare.gov efforts, and even pull in some folks from Massachusetts.

Instead of nailing a three pointer to seal his legacy he fumbled the game away calling a time-out he doesn't have, a la Chris Webber.

If Only Obama Cared As Much for ObamaCare As He Did About Reelection

After the 2012 election, a great deal of time was spent discussing the wide technical gap between the capabilities of the Romney and Obama websites as well as their respective get-out-the-vote efforts. While Romney had entrusted a deeply flawed system called Orca with his Election Day strategy, the Obama reelection team relied on a robust website that many have attributed, at least partially, to his victory. It’s too bad that the Obama administration didn’t use that technological acumen to build a website that was at least half as sound for its signature piece of legislation, ObamaCare.

The centerpiece of the whole Obama campaign was its fundraising capabilities, without which all of the other applications may have been moot. The 2012 campaign’s online donation system was a complete rebuild from the 2008 effort, VanDenPlas said, “a multi-region, geolocated, three facility processor capable of a per second transaction count sufficiently high enough that we failed to be able to reach it in load testing. It could also operate if every other dependent service had failed, including its own database and every vendor.”

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/10/if-only-obama-cared-as-much-for-obamacare-as-he-did-about-reelection/

[NeverSure]

We had another long thread on this topic. I did my best to say that this would fail. I did my best to say it wasn't health care reform. I did my best to say that nothing had been done to address the very high costs of health care in the US.

I did my best to tell that this was not government health care or free health care, but rather a mandate that everyone buy insurance or pay a fine. I did my best to warn. I did my best to say that costs would go up. I did my best to say that it wouldn't work.

Who's laughing now?

Not me.

[Dante99]

He should have apologized for lying, because that is what he did.

Period!

Good point but come on guys, he started lying before he was elected and has not apologized for it once, has he?

[metisdead]

Nonsense posts using derogatory slurs have been removed.

[lomatopo]

We had another long thread on this topic. I did my best to say that this would fail. I did my best to say it wasn't health care reform. I did my best to say that nothing had been done to address the very high costs of health care in the US.

I did my best to tell that this was not government health care or free health care, but rather a mandate that everyone buy insurance or pay a fine. I did my best to warn. I did my best to say that costs would go up. I did my best to say that it wouldn't work.

Who's laughing now?

Not me.

By all accounts things seem to be working pretty well in Massachusetts, but understand that many here fear/dislike change, expect instantaneous results, prefer to be negative and never offer workable alternatives.

Not sure if you were prescient, or just another nattering nabob of negativism. Are you picking lottery numbers now?

I'm from MA and have family/friends who work in the DPH, and they seem to be extremely positive.

[phitsanulokjohn]

And of course Mr president,sorry makes it all better doesn't it?Is it any wonder no one has any trust in Politicians?

[midas]

And some posters seem to be telling porkies as well:

From the OP:

Thousands of Americans have since received notices from their health insurance companies that their policies will be cancelled.

From Loptr:

Millions are losing their health care coverage

Anyway, get all those toxic anti-Obama juices out of your system. You'll feel better.

But really ……………….it would be bad enough if this was the only set of lies he has told the American public………….. but is not is it?

http://obamalies.net/

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Just wondering, how many of those complaining here are either a] covered by any U.S. private health insurance now, or b] have bothered to price what their coverage would cost under Obamacare.

I priced health insurance online in my home state under Obamacare, based on my age and retiree income, and got a quote in excess of $400 a month. However, after federal tax credits that are also part of this program, my monthly cost supposedly was going to end up in the range above $150 a month.

That's just a bit higher than what I'm paying right now for a private company Thai health insurance policy that, of course, excludes all but emergency care anywhere in the U.S.

My home state set up their own exchange and website for Obamacare plans, and it's worked fine as far as I can tell ever since it's inception. Easy to find information and get the answers you need about the different plans that are available. Never once had any need to go looking at the federal site.

And, unlike before and elsewhere including Thailand, no exclusions or denials from coverage anymore for pre-existing health conditions.

Edited November 8, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[bushwacker]

Well, the good news is the lie only surfaced after been elected for a second term. Hihihihihihi

[spidermike007]

Sorry hardly does it Mr President. It is within your power to change the restrictions on policy types and coverage, but you won't. So platitudes will have to do.

Millions are losing their health care coverage in the US while being forced to replace them with policies at much higher rates and deductibles. Once again the insurance companies have struck gold on the backs of the middle class. Ironically, the very people Mr Obama was trying to protect.

This incapable nimrod of a leader allowed the insurance companies to insist on dozens of provisions that were predatory, and were never doing to benefit anyone except these heinous companies. He allowed the mandatory provision which stated this:

1. U.S. citizens living outside of the United States but who are not bona fide residents of a foreign country are required to have health insurance or face fines.
   If you:
   a) have told your country of residence that you are not a resident of that country
   and
   are not required to pay income tax in your country of residence,
   then you are not a bona fide resident of that country.
   If you don’t meet these stipulations—or any of the other listed IRS requirements—and you do not purchase health insurance, then you could face fines in 2014 of $285 per family (US$95 for individuals)—or 1% of your income, whichever is the greater amount... That amount will rise to a whopping $2,085 per family (US$695 for individuals) or 2.5% of your income by 2016.
   To avoid these fines, it’s in your best interest to purchase at least minimum essential coverage.
   Good news if you are entitled to Medicare, however: Medicare qualifies as minimum essential coverage. If you’re eligible for Medicare, you won’t be at risk of fines.

So, he essentially set up nearly all ex-pets to be fined by the IRS for NOT HAVING health care insurance by an American company. Even if you are covered over here, that DOES NOT COUNT, and will not be considered by this predatory law. He essentially allowed this heinous practice on his watch. He could have fought it. He did not. He usually does not. His administration is not about fighting for the American people. It is about representing the interests of corporate America. Obamacare is a travesty for the average American. And it seems to be an excuse for government overreach.

[spidermike007]

Full disclosure: I voted for Obama, twice.

What is so hard to understand is why he failed to closely manage, perhaps even micro-manage, the entire ACA implementation process instead of assuming everything would work. Some may say that the POTUS must delegate and hope for the best, but for a program that may well be his only lasting legacy he should have had the best/brightest working on this and reporting weekly on the status. Many have commented on the sophisticated systems Obama and the Dems used to raise money, target outreach and get out the vote, and the brains/software/systems behind those highly successful efforts. It just seems like it would have been fairly simple to get some of those same people to manage the ACA/Healthcare.gov efforts, and even pull in some folks from Massachusetts.

Instead of nailing a three pointer to seal his legacy he fumbled the game away calling a time-out he doesn't have, a la Chris Webber.

If Only Obama Cared As Much for ObamaCare As He Did About Reelection

After the 2012 election, a great deal of time was spent discussing the wide technical gap between the capabilities of the Romney and Obama websites as well as their respective get-out-the-vote efforts. While Romney had entrusted a deeply flawed system called Orca with his Election Day strategy, the Obama reelection team relied on a robust website that many have attributed, at least partially, to his victory. It’s too bad that the Obama administration didn’t use that technological acumen to build a website that was at least half as sound for its signature piece of legislation, ObamaCare.

The centerpiece of the whole Obama campaign was its fundraising capabilities, without which all of the other applications may have been moot. The 2012 campaign’s online donation system was a complete rebuild from the 2008 effort, VanDenPlas said, “a multi-region, geolocated, three facility processor capable of a per second transaction count sufficiently high enough that we failed to be able to reach it in load testing. It could also operate if every other dependent service had failed, including its own database and every vendor.”

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/10/if-only-obama-cared-as-much-for-obamacare-as-he-did-about-reelection/

I think it can best be summarize that he did not care. He is not concerned about us. He cares little for non-millionaires, even though that is in absolute contrast with his well manicured public image. His spin meisters managed to cultivate an image, which is quite apart from who the man really is. He behaves like the grandson of Mussolini, but has all this populist rhetoric. His policies, and his actions betray the opposite. And just for the record I voted for him also, but just the first time. Within 60 days of his occupation of the White House I realized this creep was not who he said he was, but rather a fascist in sheep's clothing. Over time, he has demonstrated that over, and over again. I voted once, but only once. I did not vote in 2012, as both candidates were terrible. America is on a steep decline, and I am doubtful a talented, and a well intentioned individual will ever step up to that candidacy again.

[NeverSure]

The Affordable Health Care Act is hardly affordable as we are seeing cancellations of people's existing coverage which may have been suitable and appropriate for their needs only to be replaced with "better" coverage which in many cases contains a lot of areas which may be of no interest to the insured. Why would middle aged and old people want to pay a premium for coverage including pregnancy benefits, abortions, ext. which are not needed for them and conversely, why would young people want to pay extra for benefits designed for older people such as colonoscopy screening, etc. Obamacare was passed with limited review and understanding and now people are experiencing that one-size-fits-all coverage is not in their best interest economically especially when combined with adding millions to the Medicaid roles. Someone has to pay for this and younger, healthier people will foot the bill and many are working hard to afford family obligations and save for things like education, future retirement, etc. Obamacare was sold with few knowing the impact and reality is setting in. It also took a long, long time for Obama to say "sorry" and surely only after his own party said you must do something. Doubtful it was a sincere apology for his actions. His narcissism and ego will forever be an impediment to a viable national health care system as he struggles to admit his failings which are seemingly becoming ever frequent.

Good post and right on.

1. You nailed one of the problems. Every health care insurance plan has to meet the new Obamacare standards and many if not most don't. The examples of everyone having to have maternity coverage including the young and single, those who have been "fixed," and the elderly who are beyond that is just one of many new requirements. Millions of people have insurance that doesn't meet the new standards and of course those standards cost more money to the buyer.

Here's where some lost a freedom. When I was much younger and self employed, I had left a banking career which provided me with good insurance. Now I had to buy my own. I chose a plan with a major provider (Blue Cross) with a very high annual deductible. I can't remember whether it was $5k or $10k per year, but obviously I never collected a dime on it because I never had a major illness. I was insuring against the catastrophic, not the mundane sniffles. The premiums were cheap due to that deductible per year.

Today that policy is illegal and my policy would have to meet Obamacare standards and the cost would skyrocket. My insurance would be canceled as illegal. That's similar to what's happening to millions of people who chose their insurance from a menu based on what they needed.

2. Many hospitals are refusing to accept most Obamacare insurance.

"The Obama Administration has been claiming that insurance companies will be competing for your dollars under the Affordable Care Act, but apparently they haven't surveyed the nation's top hospitals.

Americans who sign up for Obamacare will be getting a big surprise if they expect to access premium health care that may have been previously covered under their personal policies. Most of the top hospitals will accept insurance from just one or two companies operating under Obamacare." US News and World Report. Link

[JeffreyWitty]

He should have apologized for lying, because that is what he did.

I'm gonna play "devils' advocate" here and say he was ignorant. He listened to his "yes people" far too much who are also a bunch of ignoramuses.

[JeffreyWitty]

"If you:

a) have told your country of residence that you are not a resident of that country

and

are not required to pay income tax in your country of residence,

then you are not a bona fide resident of that country."

WRONG.

I am a bona-fide resident of South Korea, have been since 2003. This makes me TAX EXEMPT. Additionally, since I work for a US company on US Government projects - I am NOT liable to pay taxes in South Korea.

There is ALWAYS a loophole, you just gotta know how to find and use it.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Sorry hardly does it Mr President. It is within your power to change the restrictions on policy types and coverage, but you won't. So platitudes will have to do.

Millions are losing their health care coverage in the US while being forced to replace them with policies at much higher rates and deductibles. Once again the insurance companies have struck gold on the backs of the middle class. Ironically, the very people Mr Obama was trying to protect.

This incapable nimrod of a leader allowed the insurance companies to insist on dozens of provisions that were predatory, and were never doing to benefit anyone except these heinous companies. He allowed the mandatory provision which stated this:

1. U.S. citizens living outside of the United States but who are not bona fide residents of a foreign country are required to have health insurance or face fines.
   If you:
   a) have told your country of residence that you are not a resident of that country
   and
   are not required to pay income tax in your country of residence,
   then you are not a bona fide resident of that country.
   If you don’t meet these stipulations—or any of the other listed IRS requirements—and you do not purchase health insurance, then you could face fines in 2014 of $285 per family (US$95 for individuals)—or 1% of your income, whichever is the greater amount... That amount will rise to a whopping $2,085 per family (US$695 for individuals) or 2.5% of your income by 2016.
   To avoid these fines, it’s in your best interest to purchase at least minimum essential coverage.
   Good news if you are entitled to Medicare, however: Medicare qualifies as minimum essential coverage. If you’re eligible for Medicare, you won’t be at risk of fines.

So, he essentially set up nearly all ex-pets to be fined by the IRS for NOT HAVING health care insurance by an American company. Even if you are covered over here, that DOES NOT COUNT, and will not be considered by this predatory law. He essentially allowed this heinous practice on his watch. He could have fought it. He did not. He usually does not. His administration is not about fighting for the American people. It is about representing the interests of corporate America. Obamacare is a travesty for the average American. And it seems to be an excuse for government overreach.

Any American living full-time in Thailand shouldn't have any worry about any fines or penalties under Obamacare.... and there's no requirement to be paying Thai income tax in order to qualify for that exemption.

Thai or other foreign-based insurance policies don't matter/qualify under the rules of Obamacare... But you don't need any U.S. based policy, so long as you're a full-time resident of a foreign country.

At any rate, if they're abiding by the law, Americans are liable for U.S. federal income tax on any income they earn anywhere in the world as a general rule, although there are tax offset-credit agreements with various foreign countries.

Edited November 8, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[planetdweller]

It was hardly an apology. He did not really acknowledge the disastrous rollout and the magnitude of this debacle. He off-handedly apologized that some "folks" got booted out of their current plan with nothing to replace it but a high-premium , high-deductible plan , completely unaffordable to millions who liked their old plan , who were to be grandfathered in. All mistruths and misrepresentations from the Obama camp. He is a total embarrassment to himself , but is too narcissistic to show it. We have only started to see the damage created by this "signature legislation" of his.

[NeverSure]

To the Obamacare defenders: If things are really going so well, why is Obama apologizing?

This disaster (unofficially but worldwide) has his name on it and will be his legacy.

The Democrats fought hard for this. No Republican ever voted for it. Now Obama and the Democrats own it.

They protected the big money - the insurance companies, drug companies, equipment manufacturers, doctors and lobbyists et al, and screwed the average American. All of the above including insurance companies are free to charge what they want or even refuse care or policies, and the American public has to pay for it or pay a fine.

This is a long way from being over, politically.

[blazes]

It's really difficult for a non-American to figure out <deleted> is going on. I mean, most countries in the world manage to provide their citizens with a "socialist" health-care system of one kind or another. Some are better than others, but nowhere in the whole world do people get ripped off by doctors and hospitals and insurance companies as much as they seem to do in the US of A.

Why is it so difficult for Americans to put together a good citizen-owned healthcare system? (And why get diverted into the playground abuse of the person who happens to be president right now? Casting this distracting abuse at Obama suits the insurance companies very nicely.)