Upshot of Obama’s meeting with insurers: They knew what was in law, but he didn’t?

Upshot of Obama’s meeting with insurers: They knew what was in law, but he didn’t?

Obama Gives Speech On Education At Virginia Middle School“We will have to pass the bill so that you can find out what’s in it.” That sentence would make a fitting epitaph for the woman who uttered those words mere days before the Affordable Care Act was signed into law. Interestingly, the nation’s insurers, knowing that it would impact them directly, bothered to read the law to find out what was in it. They are now expressing dismay that the president apparently didn’t — and didn’t even bother to listen when they sent up warning flares.

NBC News reports:

Several insurance industry officials and state insurance commissioners expressed frustration Friday, saying they were ‘baffled’ by President Barack Obama’s assertion that the cancellation of millions of insurance policies occurred because a key provision of the Affordable Care Act didn’t work as expected. The administration was warned three years ago that regulations would have exactly that effect, they said.

They said the widespread cancellations in the individual health insurance market — roughly 5 million and counting — are in line with what was projected under regulations drawn up by the administration in 2010, requirements that both insurers and businesses objected to at the time. Cancellations also are occurring in the small group market, which covers businesses with between two and 50 employees, they noted.

‘We have been saying for years that the requirements in the law were going to mean that people couldn’t keep their current plans and they were going to have to purchase coverage that was more expensive,’ said one high-level heath industry insider who spoke on condition of anonymity. ‘We said these changes would disrupt coverage and increase premiums for consumers. And now everything we said is coming true and people are acting surprised.’

If I am understanding what transpired here, Obama didn’t know the effects of a legislative initiative he signed into law — and not just any initiative: The Affordable Care Act is among the most sweeping reforms ever passed, transferring stewardship of one sixth of the nation’s economy to the federal government.

If this reading is correct, Obama didn’t lie when he assured Americans repeatedly that if they liked their health care they could keep it. He was simply ignorant of the contents of his signature legislative endeavor. Even worse, he refused to heed warnings from the private sector of the calamity this law would visit on the American people.

So, either Obama deceived the American people, or he deceived himself by failing to pay attention. Which of those attributes would like on his own tombstone?

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Howard Portnoy

Howard Portnoy

Howard Portnoy has written for The Blaze, HotAir, NewsBusters, Weasel Zippers, Conservative Firing Line, RedCounty, and New York’s Daily News. He has one published novel, Hot Rain, (G. P. Putnam’s Sons), and has been a guest on Radio Vice Online with Jim Vicevich, The Alana Burke Show, Smart Life with Dr. Gina, and The George Espenlaub Show.

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