Marathon Pundit: Dems: ‘If You Like Your Plan, You'll Be Able To Keep It’

And ObamaCare is only slowly being rolled out. The worst is yet to come. But the present is bad.

From the Senate Republican Communications Center:

Dems: ‘If You Like Your Plan, You'll Be Able To Keep It’

Unless You Have ‘Child-Only Health Insurance,’ Or You’re A ‘Retiree,’ Or You Have ‘A Medicare Advantage’ Plan, Or You Get Your ‘Insurance Through An Employer’

PRESIDENT OBAMA: “If You Like Your Current Plan, You Will Be Able To Keep It. Let Me Repeat That: If You Like Your Plan, You'll Be Able To Keep It.” (President Obama, Remarks At The White House, Washington, D.C., 7/21/09)

COLORADO: Insurer ‘Will Terminate Current Policies Held By State Residents’

“Aetna … Will Terminate Current Policies Held By State Residents.” “A spokeswoman for Aetna confirmed Monday that the insurer will no longer sell new individual-market health insurance policies in Colorado and will terminate current policies held by state residents no later than July 31, 2012. The change represents Aetna’s third major recent pull-back on health-insurance offerings in Colorado. … Insurers have complained that federal health care reform has made offering their product more expensive” (“Aetna Retrenches In Colorado,” Denver Business Journal, 1/31/11)

· “Aetna was the sixth largest insurer of individual health-care customers in Colorado, reporting 22,400 of them at the end of 2009, which is the most recent statistic available from the Colorado Division of Insurance. That represented 4.29 percent of the individual health care market in the state.” (“Aetna Retrenches In Colorado,” Denver Business Journal, 1/31/11)

“Aetna Was Part Of A Large Group Of Insurers That Left The Child-Only Individual Insurance Market Last September When The Affordable Care Act Banned Insurers From Denying Policies To Kids With Costly Existing Conditions.” (“Aetna Retrenches In Colorado,” Denver Business Journal, 1/31/11)

“Then, Later In The Year, Aetna Announced That It Also Was Leaving The Small-Group Market. A Provision In The Affordable Care Act Requires That At Least 85 Percent Of Insurance Premiums In The Small- And Large-Group Markets Must Go To Health Care Costs.” (“Aetna Retrenches In Colorado,” Denver Business Journal, 1/31/11)

‘Carriers Drop Child-Only Health Insurance’

“Twenty States Now Have No Insurers Offering Child-Only Policies. Since September, the health reform law has barred insurers from withholding policies to children under 19 who have a pre-existing condition. Rather than take on the burdensome cost of writing policies for potentially-pricey medical conditions, many carriers decided to leave the market altogether.” (“Child-Only Health Plans Endangered,” Politico, 1/27/11)

· “One Of The Largest Insurance Markets In The Country, Texas, Has Seen All Their Carriers Drop Child-Only Health Insurance, As Have Other Large States Including Florida And Illinois.” (“Child-Only Health Plans Endangered,” Politico, 1/27/11)

· “Other States That No Longer Have Carriers Selling Child-Only Plans Include Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia And Wyoming, according to the investigation by GOP staff on the Senate Health, Labor and Pensions Committee.” (“Child-Only Health Plans Endangered,” Politico, 1/27/11)

‘Stop Selling’ To ‘People Who Receive Their Insurance Through An Employer’

“ The Principal Financial Group Announced On Thursday That It Planned To Stop Selling Health Insurance, Another Sign Of Upheaval Emerging Among Insurers As The New Federal Health Law Starts To Take Effect. The Company, Based In Iowa, Provides Coverage To About 840,000 People Who Receive Their Insurance Through An Employer.” (“Insurer Cuts Health Plans As New Law Takes Hold,” The New York Times, 10/1/10)

· “At The Principal Financial Group, The Company’s Decision Reflected Its Assessment Of Its Ability To Compete In The Environment Created By The New Law. ‘Now scale really matters,’ said Daniel J. Houston, a senior executive at Principal, which is headquartered in Des Moines. ‘We don’t have a significant concentration in any one market.’” (“Insurer Cuts Health Plans As New Law Takes Hold,” The New York Times, 10/1/10)

‘Stop Offering… To Retirees’

“3M Co. Confirmed It Would Eventually Stop Offering Its Health-Insurance Plan To Retirees, Citing The Federal Health Overhaul As A Factor.” (“3M To Change Health-Plan Options For Workers,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/4/10)

‘Drop… Medicare Advantage Health Insurance Program’

“Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Has Notified Customers That It Will Drop Its Medicare Advantage Health Insurance Program At The End Of The Year, Forcing 22,000 Senior Citizens In Massachusetts, New Hampshire, And Maine To Seek Alternative Supplemental Coverage. The decision by Wellesley-based Harvard Pilgrim, the state’s second-largest health insurer, was prompted by a freeze in federal reimbursements and a new requirement that insurers offering the kind of product sold by Harvard Pilgrim — a Medicare Advantage private fee for service plan — form a contracted network of doctors who agree to participate for a negotiated amount of money.” (“Harvard Pilgrim Cancels Medicare Advantage Plan,” The Boston Globe, 9/28/10)

· Lynn Bowman, Vice President Of Customer Service At Harvard Pilgrim’s Office In Quincy: “We Know That Cuts In Medicare Are Being Used To Fund National Health Care Reform.’’ (“Harvard Pilgrim Cancels Medicare Advantage Plan,” The Boston Globe, 9/28/10)