White House moves forward with ObamaCare fix

The White House is moving forward with part of its ObamaCare fix designed to promote the law’s benefits to consumers.

The administration unveiled a letter that will be sent to people who have the option of continuing health policies that would otherwise be canceled under ObamaCare for one year.

{mosads}Most of the policies will not meet the law’s new coverage standards, a fact the White House wants to highlight to the public.

“Consumer protections are an important part of the Affordable Care Act,” said deputy press secretary Josh Earnest on Thursday. “This letter includes very important information for individual consumers.”

The move is part of a wider policy meant to quell the firestorm over millions of health plans being canceled on the individual market as ObamaCare takes effect.

President Obama had repeatedly promised that people could keep their health plans under his new law if they liked them, fueling the backlash.

Obama announced last week that insurers would be able to continue offering canceled policies to people who already had them for one year.

The so-called “transition period” includes a requirement for insurers to send consumers notices about the other coverage options available under ObamaCare.

Earnest pointed to a letter Thursday released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that tells consumers about the law’s marketplaces, which do not discriminate based on health, and the income-based tax credits to make coverage more affordable.

The letters also describe which health benefits are not included in the plans being offered for renewal, Earnest said.

The White House is urging insurers to distribute the letters to policyholders regardless of whether they’re allowed to renew their old policies.

“The administration believes that this kind of education is actually really important,” Earnest said.