CNN contributor Sally Kohn dug up some details of Americans who have seen their health plan dropped due to Obamacare.
Deborah Cavallaro was making the rounds on television complaining about how her current insurance plan was canceled under Obamacare. So Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik talked to her. Her current plan cost $293 per month but had a deductible of $5,000 per year and out-of-pocket annual limits of $8,500. Also, the current plan covered just two doctor's visits per year.Dianne Barrette also popped up on television on a CBS news report in which she lamented that her $54-per-month insurance plan had been canceled under Obamacare. But Nancy Metcalf at Consumer Reports investigated Barrette's story and found that her current policy was a "textbook example of a junk plan that isn't real health insurance at all." According to Metcalf, if Barrette had ever tried to use her insurance for anything more than a sporadic doctor's visit, "she would have ended up with tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical debt."Yes, Obama lied and I'm pissed. Yes, I feel sorry for these people. But it looks like a lot of them had pretty unsubstantial plans that weren't good for much in the first place. They likely would have been dropped at some point regardless but now they have the Obamacare option, which I still believe will benefit consumers as soon as the website improves.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/07/opinion/kohn-obamacare-journalists/There is no way Obama can spin this positively. This is the lowest point of his presidency because it has hurt his political clout but also his personal credibility- which hurts the most. Still, I think the dust will settle and Americans will become generally happy with the ACA despite the bumpy rollout. He just has to ride out the storm and hope things improve by the midterms next year.
