Nobody is losing health care

It is sad, but not surprising, given the current political climate, to see the current wave of partisan outrage over the rollout of the Affordable Care Act.

Yes, the website was not ready for prime time. And we’ll grant that President Barack Obama’s sales pitch—“If you like your insurance, you can keep it”—was, at best, incorrect and, at worst, deceptive.

More troubling, however, is the failure of so many journalists to explain why insurance policies are being canceled.

The fact is that, in most cases, the insurance these people “liked” so much was practically worthless. In one way or another, it was designed to take money from consumers and lull them into thinking they were covered, while not actually providing much coverage—a reality many consumers never faced. That is, until a major accident or illness, when they suddenly learned that their “insurance” didn’t cover hospitalizations, surgeries or some other expensive and necessary item.

One of the signature achievements of the ACA has been a standard of coverage that actually covers health care.

So, let’s call this manufactured outrage what it is: Another attempt to kill health-care reform before it begins.