On today's Fox News Sunday Juan Williams tried to push the progressive talking points that the Obamcare-caused losses of health insurance policies were actually a good thing for the people involved. Williams contended people were being forced into better coverage at a cheaper cost. But as panelist Brit Hume and host Chris Wallace each pointed out, the coverage was not necessarily better because, for example, elderly people were being forced to purchase maternity coverage -- and the costs weren't lower either.
The segment began with Wallace providing examples insurance company policy cancelations:
Let's put up against those statistics. It's quite remarkable. Florida Blue terminated 300,000 policies because they don't meet the new Obamacare standards. Kaiser Permanente of California, 160,000 cancelling. These are people who had health insurance in the individual market, were happy with it, and they're being kicked off, because under the new Obamacare mandates, that doesn’t meet it. And to pick up on what George [Will] said and House Speaker Boehner said more people could lose health insurance in the month of Octobe, than sign up for it.
Williams:
You know I get the sense that people are, that people on the Republican side are enjoying this moment, But this is just empty rhetoric. When you speak to the insurance executives in Florida and California, they say they're cancelling those policies Chris, because Obamacare has requirements, ten categories or mandates for levels of coverage. The current policies don't meet them so they have to cancel them, but they're extending offers to the very people losing them for better packages at lower costs with more benefits.
Wallace:
No, that's not true.
Williams:
It is true. And let me tell you something else. You said oh, but January one these people lose their coverage. In fact the insurance companies are saying, we'll make sure that on January one you will have coverage. This is not the apocalypse.
Brit Hume:
Juan look, what about this; the President promised explicitly, we heard it on this program, if you like the coverage you have nwo, you can keep it, period. These hundreds of thousands people evidently liked the policies they had because they kept paying for it. They are now being told they can’t have those policies anymore, that they must have policies that involve coverage for things they may feel they don’t need.
Wallace:
They are going to get better coverage, Brit, at potentially lower costs.
Hume:
Whose idea of better coverage, their idea or the government’s?
Wallace:
Once they’re offered it, it may be their idea. Right now all the insurance companies are saying is we don't meet the requirements under Obama care and we'll offer you a better deal.
Hume:
No, you're going to offer a government mandated deal that may or may not be better for the people involved. There are people who, elderly people being required to pay for maternity coverage.
Wallace:
We have to end this segment. I just want to point out that we had, a couple of weeks ago, a letter that a 62-year-old couple who owned their own business in Oregon had gotten, under the Obamacare they were losing their policy. The new policy, the cheapest policy they were being offered, the deductible was going to double to $5,000 a person. Visits to specialists, and one of them had to see a specialist were going up from $35 a visit to $100 a visit, and their premium was going up. So the idea that they were going to get more for less…you know what? There is no free lunch.