The
administrative fix to the problem of health insurance cancellations President Obama announced is going to be up to states to implement. So far, only a
handful of states have decided whether or not they'll allow insurers to continue to sell substandard policies to current customers.
The initial reaction to the White House “fix” didn’t run along the usual red state-blue state lines. Even a reliable White House ally like Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick couldn’t say whether his state would back the administration’s cancellation plan. [...]
Those on board with the White House strategy early on range the political gamut, though. California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, who’ve taken almost exactly opposite positions on Obamacare, said they support the White House on cancellations.
Kentucky, which is running its own exchange, and Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, a fervent Obamacare critic, said they’ll work to help plans to renew if they choose.
Conversely, commissioners Mike Chaney of Mississippi and Ralph Hudgens of Georgia said Obama’s plan isn’t of much use use for their states.
Washington state has decided not to allow it, as did Rhode Island, while Colorado's insurance commissioner had already—previous to the announcement—decided to allow some of these plans to be grandfathered. South Carolina announced Monday that
it will allow the policies to continue. Other states are still trying to decide.
Meanwhile, health insurers are still grumbling about the impossibility of uncancelling cancelled policies. The only problem they have there is that whole Florida thing, where Florida Blue reversed itself for about 300,000 customers. One suspects that the real problem for insurers is that if they decide not to continue these policies, it won't be Obama's fault anymore, but their own.