Obama’s Foolish Promise About Obamacare

Americans are beginning to realize that under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, many people will in fact not be able to keep their current insurance plans. That reflects poorly on President Barack Obama. But it doesn’t necessarily reflect badly on Obamacare.

First things first: Obama had no business promising, as he did repeatedly, that people who like their insurance would be able to keep it under the new law. The reality is that the federal government doesn’t have the power to prevent insurers from canceling or changing the plans they offer, and the law doesn’t empower it to do so.