Yesterday's announcement by the President that people can keep their substandard health insurance plans for one year shifts the burden back to the insurance companies that had notified people that their policies were being cancelled. They will also have to notify their policy holders of options, including the health insurance exchanges set up under the Affordable Care Act. All the more reason for the Administration to get the "HealthCare.gov" web site up and running properly and quickly.
And the Rethugs? They want to go back to the bad old days: Rep. Fred "Down Is" Upton introduced a bill being voted on today that would not only extend the substandard health insurance plans, but allow new customers to buy them. The result would be denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions, and coverage that goes away once you get sick. That's their "alternative."
UPDATE: Unfortunately, there were 39 chickenshit Democrats who cravenly voted for the Upton bill. Yet another reason why we don't contribute to the DCCC: too many spineless weasels.
UPDATE II: OK, so it was a "free" vote; it's still chickenshit.
(cartoon: Tom Toles, Washington Post)
