Like many Americans I am deeply troubled by recent cancellations of health insurance policies. I believe President Obama’s claim that he didn’t know his promise would be untrue (no sane politician would tell so obvious a lie) and now he is proposing a short-term extension of those policies. But others knew and apparently said nothing. Most obviously, the insurance companies.
Why did they not inform Obama of this coming catastrophe? And why didn’t they tell consumers who bought or renewed policies since 2010 that they were substandard and would be canceled? In short, because they didn’t have to. Before the Affordable Care Act, any policy could be unilaterally canceled without warning or explanation. Now millions of Americans know what it’s like.
And why would anyone want their old, cancelable policies back? With the ACA, they can buy new ones that will not be canceled without their approval.
Larry Mastin
Vancouver
