President Obama admitted at the health care summit he convened in 2010 that there would be people who would lose their existing health insurance coverage. He admitted that when he was challenged by Eric Cantor that some people would not be able to keep the policies they had selected, and he casually dismissed the question. The following is a transcript of that exchange:

Eric Cantor said, “Because I don’t think you can answer the question in the positive to say that people will be able to maintain their coverage, people will be able to see the doctors they want, in the kind of bill that you are proposing.”

Mr. Obama’s response was, “Since you asked me a question, let me respond. The 8 to 9 million people you refer to that might have to change their coverage — keep in mind out of the 300 million Americans that we are talking about — would be folks who the CBO, the Congressional Budget Office,  estimates would find the deal in the exchange better — would be a better deal. So, yes, they would change coverage because they got more choice and competition.”

So even though the president knew that eight to nine million people “might have to change their coverage” in February of 2010, afterwards, for three-plus years — especially while running for reelection — Obama continued to reassure the American people that, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it. Period.” Mr. Obama knew there were people who would lose the health care insurance they had selected and he knew what he was saying on multiple occasions was not true.

I’ve asked whether it is constitutional for the government to regulate the specifics of individual health care plans, and was disappointed in the answer. It was that a challenge is unlikely because the John Roberts led Supreme Court ruled the law is constitutional because the government is allowed to tax.

I find it astonishing that it is constitutional for the government to require insurance coverage that isn’t needed by individuals. The talking points of those who support Obamacare hammer on the idea that people being required to pay much more for plans to replace policies people selected that are “substandard” by “junk insurance companies.” The regulations require maternity care and pediatric dental care for couples beyond the age of child-rearing. It seems clear that those writing the law realized that covering millions of uninsured and people with pre-existing conditions would require increased payments from others. Those “others” included millions of people who had carefully shopped for coverage that is now described by law to be “substandard.”  

President Obama could have said much more accurately in his campaign speeches, “If the government likes your plan, you can keep your plan. If the government thinks you have made poor choices, you will be required to change your plan. Period!” The second more accurate proclamation would not be as likely to encourage legislators to vote to enact the law.