Services will notify the nation’s state insurance commissioners that
they have federal permission to let consumers who already have such
insurance policies to keep them through 2014, according to the Post. It will be up to each
state whether to go along.
The Post reported:
“The decision runs counter to a central aim of the law, which was to
ensure that all people in the U.S. with private health plans are
guaranteed at least certain benefits. According to a source familiar
with the White House’s thinking, the administration will insist that
insurance companies continuing to sell individual insurance policies
that do not comply with those standards alert consumers to potentially
better and more affordable insurance available through the new federal
and state insurance marketplaces.
“The White House’s strategy differs from a bill on which the House is
to vote on Friday, sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), which would
let new customers buy such meager policies, rather than only allowing
existing policy-holders to keep them for an additional year.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that despite Obama’s impending announcement, House Democrats will also pursue a legislative fix themselves.
In addition to Upton’s proposal, two Senate Democrats — Mary
Landrieu (La.) and Mark Udall (Colo.) — have introduced their own
proposals.
