By William Newell
“If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” These words have come back to haunt President Obama. Contrary to his statement, many Americans enrolled in individual health plans have lost or will lose their current plans due to regulations imposed by the Affordable Care Act. White House spokesperson Jay Carney admitted “it’s true” there are plans that won’t be eligible under the health care law.
According to Forbes, more people have been notified of their plan’s cancellation in three states than have signed up for an online health care exchange account in all 50 states. Many people have seen rates increase, yet are not eligible for the ACA’s insurance rate subsidies. NBC News relayed the saddest part of it all: The Obama Administration likely knew for three years that this would happen and that possibly 80 percent of people in the individual health insurance market could lose their current plans.
This situation highlights the fact that leaders must present the policies they promote in a way that is genuinely reflective of their content. When politicians make outlandish promises and fail to meet them, it undermines public trust and the government’s effectiveness. It just goes to show, when a politician says something that seems too good to be true, it probably is.
William Newell is a research associate at Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon’s free market public policy research organization. He is a graduate of Willamette University.
