Pirate's Cove

I’ve mentioned several times that those who receive health insurance through their employer will soon have to deal with the same problems as individuals due to the grandfathering rules established by Health and Human Services. The administration’s own mid-range estimate was that 51% would lose their employer based plans. That would be 78 million people. Now we obtain more confirmation regarding “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. Period”

(Townhall) Testifying on Capitol Hill Wednesday about the failure of the Obamacare rollout, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was grilled about President Obama’s false promise that millions of Americans could keep their insurance plans. Sebelius and Obama repeatedly stated plans held prior to Obamacare passing and going into effect would be grandfathered in. What they didn’t mention is the “grandfathering” process comes with caveats, meaning if plans didn’t meet new Obamacare standards, they would be cancelled. Because of those caveats, millions of Americans in the individual health insurance market have lost their health insurance plans despite being promised they could keep them. Today, Sebelius admitted employer based insurance plans will also be cancelled as a result of grandfathering caveats and government requirements making plans illegal under Obamacare.

“Employer based grandfathered plans will have the same caveats,” Sebelius said under questioning from Republican Senator John Thune.

In other words, kiss your plan goodbye and say hello to one which is more expensive, has higher deductibles, and fewer doctors and medical centers. And, companies may just decide that the extra costs aren’t worth it, that it’s cheaper to pay the fine/tax, and point everyone towards the Exchanges. Which work so well that even Democrats are screaming in frustration (via Lonely Conservative)

Since 1995, Hammack and Brothers have received their health coverage from Kaiser Permanente, where Brothers worked until 2009 as a dietitian and diabetes educator. “We’ve both been in very good health all of our lives – exercise, don’t smoke, drink lightly, healthy weight, no health issues, and so on,” Hammack told me.

The couple — Lee, 60, and JoEllen, 59 — have been paying $550 a month for their health coverage — a plan that offers solid coverage, not one of the skimpy plans Obama has criticized. But recently, Kaiser informed them the plan would be canceled at the end of the year because it did not meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. The couple would need to find another one. The cost would be around double what they pay now, but the benefits would be worse.

“From all of the sob stories I’ve heard and read, ours is the most extreme,” Lee told me in an email last week.

As I wrote in the comments at The Lonely Conservative “I have absolutely zero sympathy for these Democrats who are finding out exactly what they voted for and getting nailed. Dems always think their policies should negatively effect Someone Else, whether it be taxation, “climate change” policies, or Obamacare. Then, when they find out that they themselves are getting screwed, they whine to the world.” I’ll reserve my sympathy for those who have been against Obamacare from the start.

I know my plan will change heavily. We will have a choice of 3 plans (sounds much like the Exchange). What we do not know are the deductibles, premiums, and coverages. And our plan wasn’t all that cheap for a corporate plan in the first place. Insurance in North Carolina under the Exchange is already costly.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.