It may not seem that way at first, because the most immediate impact of the move is to stave off political pressure. The announcement comes in response to growing urgings from congressional Democrats to take action in response to health plan cancellations that have occurred, and are expected to continue occurring, as a result of Obamacare. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and five other Senate Democrats said this week that they backed a bill that would require insurers to continue offering plans into 2014. A separate bill offered by Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) would have simply allowed insurers to keep offering plans that do not meet Obamacare’s requirements.
Today’s announcements gives Democrats a response to complaints about plan cancellations. The White House has heard their complaints, they can say, and is doing something about it.
What the administration is really doing, though, is attempting to shift the blame. Insurers have spent months if not years preparing for the changes and requirements enacted under Obamacare. They will have a difficult time turning on a dime and extending cancelled policies. They may not be able to in some or many cases. And state insurance regulators will have to sign off on reinstatements, creating an additional layer of insulation between plan upsets and the administration.
llow health insurance companies to continue selling plans that do not meet the Affordable Care Act’s minimum criteria—millions of which have already been subject to cancellation notices—is likely to be a pivotal moment in the political fight over the 2010 health law. It’s the moment in which President Obama, prodded by his own party, is making his first, tacit admission that Obamacare is unworkable.
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