OK. So Healthcare.gov was a complete botch. Now what do we do?
Roughly 5% of Americans now have to change their healthcare plans because they don't have coverage that conforms with the new law. Did President Obama "lie" about people not being able to keep their healthcare? I don't think so. I think it was a huge oversight, but I don't believe for one second that he was intentionally misleading the public. He would have nothing to gain in doing so.
So, here's my solution. First of all, President Obama needs to own up to the mistake, apologize for it and then, hopefully, Republicans can move on. If they can't, which will probably be the case, that's their own issue.
Next, many Americans' plans were grandfathered in to the system. Why not grandfather those who received letters from their insurance companies (way too late, I might add) stating they will be dropped and have to pay a higher premium for better coverage? I feel, the insurance companies should keep the insureds' premium the same and have their policies comply fully with the law. It's the insurance companies who provided a sub par policy to begin with, so they should have to honor these changes but not at the expense of the consumer. Maybe, over time, the premium can be adjusted to match what the policy actually covers, but it shouldn't be immediate and certainly shouldn't be at the policy holders' expense, at least initially. Win-win in my opinion. The insurance companies comply with the law and the insureds still pay something into the system.
Lastly, we all need to be patient. A system that has been virtually unchanged for years and badly broken can't be fixed overnight. But, a website can be fixed to meet the needs of all its' users. Maybe not overnight, but in a relatively short period of time. Is it embarrassing for the administration? Of course. Is it criminal or even as big of a deal as the media and right-wing pundits are making it? Of course not. We all live in a society in which everything is "on-demand". We all need to remember a phrase that has probably been told to us at some point in our life: Good things come to those who wait. And, once all the kinks get fixed, everyone will see what a good thing it is.
