“If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.” By now, every American has learned that oft-repeated promise by President Obama is—to employ a Nixon administration phrase—“no longer operative.”
That discovery came as those with individual health insurance started getting letters telling them that their plans were being cancelled and that they would need to buy new, Obamacare-compliant, replacement coverage. One response from Obama administration officials was to assert that the old plans were “substandard” anyway, and that the affected individuals could get better, more affordable coverage under Obamacare.
However, that explanation is now apparently “no longer operative” either, since recently the Administration released a “regulatory guidance” memo informing us that:
If you have been notified that your individual market policy will not be renewed, you will be eligible for a hardship exemption and will be able to enroll in catastrophic coverage if it is available in your area. In order to purchase this catastrophic coverage, you need to complete a hardship exemption form, and indicate that your current health insurance policy is being cancelled and that you consider other available policies unaffordable.
Obamacare stipulates that these so-called catastrophic plans must comply with all of the law’s new benefit mandates, but do not have to meet the same “minimum value” criteria imposed on other plans. Oh, and the plans also come with a standard deductible of $6,350 per person. Thus, an Obamacare catastrophic plan is—by both Obamacare’s own definition and design—a “substandard” plan.
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