Posted: 12/11/2013 at 7:00pm | IP Logged

Obamcare 'Fix' Could Cause More Problems

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CBN News

Last month President Obama offered a "fix" to people who have lost their insurance coverage because of Obamacare.

"We did fumble the ball on it. And what I'm going to do is make sure that we get it fixed," Obama said then.

His solution: allow people to keep their plans for an extra year.

But experts, like Ed Haislmaier from the Heritage Foundation, say this fix is just as flawed as the law itself, and will make things worse, not better.

"I think its going to get worse because you have compounding effects over time as this plays out likely resulting in higher premiums down the road," Haislmaier said.

Some families say that was already happening even before the president's fix was in. Tyler James and his daughter have insurance through work. His wife is covered on a separate policy.

That policy was cancelled, but then he got the option to keep it, temporarily.

"They extended it for another year, so I do get to keep it for another year, but the premiums go up if you want to keep on it for another year, for like $40," said James.

Faced with those increased premiums, James turned to the healthcare website to see if he could find a better option. But problems with the site kept him from being able to look at any potential plans.

"Probably what's more than likely going to end up happening is I'll just put her on my insurance at work, which is going to be several hundreds of dollars more expensive," James said.

Haislmaier said many other Americans are going to face that same reality.

"When you look at the design of the legislation it clearly has a number of features that make insurance in general at least for a lot of people more expensive than it is today," Haislmaier said.

Another round of policy cancellations is on the horizon. A new report by the American Enterprise Institute shows that by 2014 at least half of Americans who get their health plans through work will receive cancellation notices.

That's almost 80 million more people above and beyond those who've already gotten those notices. James said Washington shouldn't be dictating personal health insurance decisions.

"I think the thing that frustrates me most about, not just me losing my coverage, but about the whole situation in general, is just the idea that the government can come in and say, 'Tyler, the coverage that you have right now isn't the best for your family. We're going to tell you this plan that's good for your family,'" James said.

Source: CBN News