The Obamacare disaster offers a teachable moment for legislating. A major policy change that affects the quality of life of millions of people should develop with bipartisanship and consensus. Its effects should have the full understanding of the American people, the Congress and the President who signs it into law. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my years as a senator, it’s that worthwhile legislation takes time to develop and get right. Obamacare was partisan, rushed into law, and promoted to the public with false assurances.
Amid many problems, more than four million people have received cancellation notices from their insurance companies. They’re worried and uncertain about the state of their health care coverage. The President did what he’s done before when his law hits the rocks: He took out his pencil and eraser and rewrote it on the fly. Now, he’s asking insurance companies to un-cancel their cancelled policies – the policies they cancelled in compliance with the law. This comes three and a half years after enactment.
Industry experts reacted with skepticism.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners said, “This decision continues different rules for different policies and threatens to undermine the new market, and may lead to higher premiums and market disruptions in 2014 and beyond.”
And the American Academy of Actuaries said, “Changing the (Affordable Care Act) ACA provisions could alter the dynamics of the insurance market, creating two parallel markets operating under different rules, thereby threatening the viability of insurance markets operating under the new rules.”
President Obama should admit Obamacare’s failures. He should work with Congress on bipartisan legislation that would address health insurance problems without disrupting what does work in our health care system. It’s beyond time to make things right.