Washington state rejects Obama’s plan to let people keep current health plans [View all]

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Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is rejecting President Barack Obama’s call Thursday to allow more people to keep health insurance plans that would be canceled under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

“I understand that many people are upset by the notices they have recently received from their health plans and they may not need the new benefits today,” Kreidler said in a statement Thursday.“But I have serious concerns about how President Obama’s proposal would be implemented and more significantly, its potential impact on the overall stability of our health insurance market.”

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Kreidler said he was concerned that backpedaling on the canceled plans could harm the insurance market in this state, and jeopardize consumer protections that the state has enacted since the passage of the ACA.

“I do not believe his proposal is a good deal for the state of Washington,” Kreidler said. “In the interest of keeping the consumer protections we have enacted and ensuring that we keep health insurance costs down for all consumers, we are staying the course. We will not be allowing insurance companies to extend their policies. I believe this is in the best interest of the health insurance market in Washington."

If Kreidler did allow insurance companies to extend these plans, it would continue the problem in the existing system. That is, it would create two separate pools of healthy and sick people, said Stephanie Marquis, a spokeswoman for Kreidler's office.

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http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/health-care-inc/2013/11/washington-state-rejects-obamas-plan.html?ana=e_ptl_hc&page=all