Obama: Individual policyholders can keep plan for extra year

President Obama announced Thursday an administrative change in the ACA, allowing insurers to continue offering individual insurance plans for another year even if they do not comply with the law’s rules for minimum benefits (Source: “Obama announces change to address health insurance cancellations,” Washington Post, Nov. 14, 2013). 

“This fix won’t solve every problem for every person, but it’s going to help a lot of people,”Obama said in making the announcement. “Doing more will require work with Congress,” he added.

Under Obama’s plan, the Department of Health and Human Services will notify the nation’s state insurance commissioners that they have federal permission to allow consumers who already have such insurance policies to keep them through 2014. It will be up to each state whether to go along.