Free Republic

Charlie Rose and three of Barack Obama’s former speechwriters had a good laugh Monday night while joking about the president’s infamous, oft-repeated false promise that under Obamacare, “if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” Obama said dozens of times in the run-up to the Affordable Care Act’s signing and enactment that no Americans who liked the insurance plan they had would lose it under the Affordable Care Act. In reality, millions of policies were canceled because of the law’s regulations, and Obama was forced to apologize to the American people. The infamous remark...

For the first time in modern history, the Obama administration has forced insurance companies to withhold 2015 prices until after the election. So he can shield Democrats. In the past, new prices were announced 60 days before the first day of the year. Not this year. Warner Todd Huston reported: Barack Obama is again playing political games with our health insurance industry and has turned in another underhanded move against it by forcing insurance carriers, brokers and agents to withhold their 2015 prices until after the 2014 midterm elections are over all so that the news of higher prices won’t...

More than a dozen states plan to cancel health care policies not in compliance with ObamaCare in the coming weeks, affecting thousands of people just before the midterm elections. "It looks like several hundred thousand people across the country will receive notices in the coming days and weeks," said Jim Capretta of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. The policies are being canceled because states that initially granted a reprieve at the request of President Obama are no longer willing to do so. In coming weeks, 13 states and the District of Columbia plan to cancel such policies, which generally...

In a line that says a lot about where health care is heading under Obamacare, an insurance executive offering plans through the law was quoted in the New York Times on Tuesday as saying, “We have to break people away from the choice habit that everyone has.” Marcus Merz, the chief executive of PreferredOne, made the remark in an article describing the trend toward narrow networks in health care plans. The article notes, "In the midst of all the turmoil in health care these days, one thing is becoming clear: No matter what kind of health plan consumers choose, they...

MIAMI (AP) -- The first thing Michelle Pool did before picking a plan under President Barack Obama's health insurance law was check whether her longtime primary care doctor was covered. Pool, a 60-year-old diabetic who has had back surgery and a hip replacement, purchased the plan only to find that the insurer was mistaken.Pool's $352 a month gold plan through Covered California's exchange was cheaper than what she'd paid under her husband's insurance and seemed like a good deal because of her numerous pre-existing conditions. But after her insurance card came in the mail, the Vista, California resident learned her...

FULL TITLE: Health insurance executives say tens of millions *more* Americans will lose their health plans On June 15, 2009, when Obama was selling his Obamacare to Americans, he promised: “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan, period.” As Obamacare began to be implemented, millions of Americans discovered, too late, that Obama had lied, when they were notified by their insurance companies that their health plans had been cancelled. (Go the end of this post for more.) Obama and the Left then blamed the evil greedy insurance companies for the cancellations, conveniently leaving...

Health insurers are now openly admitting that with Obamacare’s reforms, patient choice can no longer be a priority for Americans. “We have to break people away from the choice habit that everyone has,” Marcus Merz, CEO of Minnesota insurer PreferredOne, told The New York Times Tuesday. “We’re all trying to break away from this fixation on open access and broad networks.” With boatloads of mandatory services provided each and every customer whether they’re wanted or not, health insurers’ costs are going up. If insurance companies are going to keep prices at a manageable level, narrow networks are one of their...

The Obamacare "winning streak" continues apace. Kaiser Health News reports on the increasing likelihood of more and more large employers dumping employees into Obamacare's exchanges. An untold number of employees will discover that they can't keep their plan, especially if they're a high-risk, high-cost employee. The Obama administration estimated that as many as 93 million Americans will lose their existing coverage under the new law, despite what the president promised repeatedly. We wrote about "targeted dumping" back in 2011. Those concerns are now being realized:

AUSTIN — The petition to wrest Santa Anna’s leg from Illinois and bring it to Texas was flat-footed from the start. But Texas museum officials believe their heart was in the right place, even if that prosthetic leg is not. Last month, the San Jacinto Battle Monument and Museum launched a petition on the White House website, hoping to get 100,000 signatures to lure an important artifact to Texas. It suggested that the wooden and cork leg used by Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna — the villain of the Alamo and Goliad and a figure deeply embedded in Texas...

When pressed on the negative impact Obamacare is having on average folks, Democrats choose to focus on those who are being helped by the healthcare law. But conservative pundit and authorAnn Coulter highlighted just how devastating the impact can be in a recent appearance on “Fox & Friends.” “This does have real world consequences: I got up the other morning and got an email from a friend saying, ‘My sister almost died because of Obamacare,’” Coulter told host Tucker Carlson. Coulter said the friend’s sister lost her coverage when Blue Shield pulled out of California because of Obamacare. Despite running...

For years we have known that the claim under Obamacare, “If you like your plan, you can keep your plan,” was false. We have also known that the claim under Obamacare, “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor,” was false. But what we didn’t know was that under Obamacare, “If you need a doctor, you may have to drive more than 100 miles to find a doctor.” I noticed in my new Anthem monthly premium under Obamacare that I was required to pay a separate monthly charge for dental insurance for my two teenage children (I also...

Voters in November might be ready to show Democrats what they think about removing choice and hiking costs, as well as their arrogance in determining that a few politicians in Washington know better about their choices than they do. Unfortunately, Barack Obama doesn’t appear to have figured out this problem. In an interview with WebMD, Obama finally acknowledged that, contra his promise, people might not be able to keep the doctors they liked, but that they probably shouldn’t have liked those doctors in the first place:CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO “For the average person, many folks who don’t have...

A new survey confirms that the “Affordable Care Act” has failed to achieve one of its most important goals — making health coverage accessible to the uninsured. As the Washington Post reports, “Just one in 10 uninsured people who qualify for private health plans through the new marketplace have signed up for one.” Why so few? According to the survey, which was released last Thursday by McKinsey & Company, the most common reason cited by uninsured respondents was lack of affordability. Out of five possible reasons for failing to enroll, most chose, “I could not afford to pay the premium.”

The big headline from the report: 15.9 percent of adults are now uninsured, down from 17.1 percent at the end of 2013. It's news that the Obama administration and the law's supporters are going to cheer as proof that the Affordable Care Act is working, and you'll likely hear a lot about it this week. The uninsured rate for the highly scrutinized 18-34 year-old demographic is dropping, but not yet to the levels the administration hopes for. The uninsured rate among 18-25 year-olds is now 23 percent, down from 23.5 percent, and the rate for 26 to 34 year-olds dropped...

An Oklahoma man is facing over $100,000 in hospital bills because he lost his health insurance plan due to Obamacare. Lenny Hubbs, a “healthy man,” as his wife describes him, is a self-employed contractor who was previously on his wife’s health insurance plan. Her employer announced that his employees would no longer be allowed to pay for their spouses’ premiums. They could not afford to purchase health insurance. Lenny’s wife told KXII-TX that “good” health insurance would have cost them $500 a month. They do not qualify for Medicaid. Hubbs became sick about two weeks ago. Doctors told him his...

Back in September, our family received an Obamacare-induced health insurance death notice. We joined millions of other Americans whose individual market health plans died after Democrats lied about our ability to keep the plans and doctors we liked. President Obama tried to "fix" the mess he created. But as usual, the federal government's solutions have made things even worse. Confusion and chaos reign not just in our household, but across the country. As I reported last fall, our letter from Anthem BlueCross BlueShield of Colorado informed us that we could no longer keep our high-deductible PPO plan with a wide...

For the first time millions of formerly apathetic voters have an undeniable grievance and a motivation to pay back the people who wrecked their budgets and health insurance coverage. With Obama’s approval ratings deep underwater and sinking, the RNC is thinking about going in for the kill. (via Doug Ross) Republican National Committee data operatives will build a list of the millions of Americans who have lost insurance policies due to Obamacare in order to help their candidates win over these voters at the ballot box in 2014 and 2016.“Getting that information [on plan cancellations] and having good data as...

Remember Presdient Obama promising “If you like your plan, you can keep your plan?” PolitiFact.com has identified 37 instances of Obama or another top administration official making this claim, or something close to it. Today we received this email from United HealthCare informing us that our health plan that we like "will no longer be offered:"

<p>A woman diagnosed with breast cancer, whose life-saving surgery has been postponed after she lost her doctors under ObamaCare, made a heartfelt plea Sunday to President Obama to amend the Affordable Care Act.</p> <p>In an exclusive appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Josie Gracchi, who has been diagnosed with ductal-invasive carcinoma, looked into the camera and addressed Obama: “I would like my health care taken care of. I was insured. I think anyone who is going through a serious illness should have immediate responses. I shouldn’t have to wait months, weeks, to even be considered for surgery that I should have had weeks ago.”</p>

Liberal New Republic editor Jonathan Cohn admits that under Obamacare, the California networks have become exceedingly restrictive regarding doctors and hospitals. He even points out that one of Los Angeles’ finest hospitals, Cedars-Sinai, isn’t in the new Obamacare networks. But don’t be upset, Cohn coos; Cedars-Sinai isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And people just wanted to go there for the snob appeal, anyway, in order to hobnob with the rich and famous. […] Cohn ignores the entire topic of liberty and choice, as though it is of no importance whatsoever. And to Cohn, perhaps it isn’t—at least, for...