Facing political pressure from Americans and his own party after his promise fell through that Americans who liked their current health insurance policies would be able to keep them under the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama announced Thursday that health insurance companies could continue offering plans that don't meet the requirements of the law for another year, news sources report.
Health insurance companies sent hundreds of thousands of policy cancelation letters to Americans last month because of the Affordable Care Act, according to a Washington Post article published earlier this month. If a policy didn't meet the basic standards outlined by the health care law, it had to be discontinued.
But Obama said on Thursday that insurance companies could continue to offer these subpar plans for another year, the Boston Globe reported.
The announcement surprised insurance executives, the Globe reported. For consumers, the fate of their insurance plans will depend on which state they live in and whether insurance companies choose to follow the president's proclamation.
The declaration frustrated 37-year-old Kysa Crusco, an attorney from New Hampshire and a mother of two, the Globe said. Crusco received notice earlier that her insurance policy would be canceled.
"The president told me that if I like my health insurance, I could keep it. And that shouldn't have an expiration date," Crusco told the Globe.
Obama placed the blame for the cancelation issue on himself and his party, the Washington Post reported.
"There have been times where I thought we were…slapped around a little bit unjustly. This one's deserved, all right? It's on us," Obama told the Post at a White House news conference.
