Axelrod hammered on 'you can keep it'
Published November 4, 2013
by Tal Kopan, Politico, November 4, 2013.
Former White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod had no allies on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday when he was asked repeatedly by a roundtable of journalists and pundits why the president told Americans if they liked their health care plan, they could keep it.
“Can't we say that, in fact, it is not true that if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan, that premiums won't go up? I mean these are things that already are evidently not the case," Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol asked Axelrod on Sunday.
“No, no, we can say in this small cohort of people who got bad health care policies, substandard health care policies after the law went into effect that they will have to transition to other policies," Axelrod said, describing his own experience of signing up for a plan that he discovered was inadequate when his daughter was diagnosed with a chronic health issue.
Moderator David Gregory asked Axelrod why he or anybody else didn't stop President Barack Obama from saying "'No matter what, you're going to keep your health care plan.’"
" Was that bad practice?" Gregory asked.
Axelrod repeated that it's a small number of Americans that will have to switch plans, acknowledging the exchange website not functioning properly is exacerbating the issue.
“Hindsight is 20/20," Axelrod said. "The vast majority of Americans, that statement will hold true for. For this small group of Americans, it hasn’t. But the calamitous thing here is that the website wasn’t up because many of the people who have to transition are going to get better insurance for less money, but they just can't tell that right now because they can't get on the website.”
Longtime Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward suggested to Axelrod that the whole situation could be fixed if the president would just admit, "I screwed up." He asked why the administration won't be straightforward.
“I don’t think there’s any shame in saying we didn’t anticipate this one glitch," Axelrod said. "We grandfathered a lot of policies. We didn’t anticipate this one glitch, But many of those people are going to get better health care for less money when this website is up and running and they can select it.”
November 5, 2013 at 12:30 am
Vicky Hutter says:
It's truly amazing that the present administration cannot be honest with us even with evidence that what we are told is blatantly false. If they aren't lying and really believe what they are saying, then we have the most inexperienced and incompetent administration in our nation's history. Is it any wonder that politicians are viewed with suspicion and not trusted?
November 5, 2013 at 10:05 am
Norm Kelly says:
Not only were we lied to, they won't admit they lied, but we are continuously told it's a 'small group' of Americans. It shouldn't be ANY Americans. But it has the potential to be millions of Americans. This is NOT a 'small group'.
This administration, and people like Axelrod, continue to say that people are getting cancelled because they had 'bad health care policies'. Not because the administration decided for us what we could have, but because we made bad choices. They are going to protect us from our choices no matter how hard we fight them. They will FORCE us into their mold regardless of anything else! My plan should be my choice and no politician or bureaucrat should be allowed to tell me it's substandard. Why can't I make that choice for myself? When socialism kicks in, all choice is removed from people. It's that plain and simple.
Axelrod's daughter was diagnosed with a chronic health issue and that's when he discovered his plan was inadequate? And it's people like him who can't take care of themselves that want to FORCE themselves on people like me? Why should I trust people like Axelrod to take care of me when they can't take care of themselves??!
The bottom line is that we were lied to. There's no 2 ways about this.
Along with the lie comes the FACT that I no longer have choice. I must pay for maternity benefits. Demoncrats are saying that the 'old' system forced cost sharing when someone without coverage required medical care but couldn't pay for it. They are eliminating the cost sharing by implementing phase 1 of socialized medicine. But by forcing me to pay for maternity benefits that I can't use they are forcing me into a cost sharing system by default. But by forcing young, healthy people to pay higher premiums so that older or unhealthy people can have lower premiums they are forcing these people into a cost sharing system by default. So they can't even be honest about this aspect of it.
Axelrod goes on to say that those who are FORCED off the plan of their choice will be able to get 'better' insurance for 'less money'. Better by whose definition? Lower cost based on what information? Most people are seeing higher premiums. The only ones who MIGHT see a premium reduction are those who now qualify for government subsidies. But people who actually pay for insurance are seeing their premiums go up. When you FORCE insurance companies to cover more the price goes UP. Stupid!
The first lie, you can keep it, is being supported by other lies, such as 'small group', 'less money', 'better coverage'. Which of these is true for the majority? I took off my rose-colored-Bono glasses years ago.
November 6, 2013 at 9:16 am
Vicky Hutter says:
To Norm Kelly: Excellent,I agree with your view of the situation. I was astounded when the seated president said publicly yesterday, "I never said you could keep your insurance". Oh, really? How about repeatedly in response to the widespread negative response of the American public re: the need for and implementation of Obamacare? You have to hand it to him, he has perfected looking into the camera and appearing "sincere" while never accepting accountability and consistently denying what he actually says in public. Our president and his administration seem to live in wonderland or believe that Americans are stupid or don't remember what the same politicians said yesterday, last week or last month. Disgusting! This trait of politicians is why I no longer trust anything a politician says without proof or corroboration from independent sources.
