"(a) No Changes to Existing Coverage –

(1) In General.-- Nothing in this Act (or an amendment made by this Act) shall be construed to require that an individual terminate coverage under a group health plan or health insurance coverage in which such individual was enrolled on the date of enactment of this Act."

Mar. 23, 2010 - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (HR 3590) (2MB)  

"[T]oday, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act - the name of the health care reform we passed two years ago...

[I]f you're one of the more than 250 million Americans who already have health insurance, you will keep your health insurance - this law will only make it more secure and more affordable."

"[W]hat if you're one of the 250 million Americans who already has insurance? Nothing will change.

Nothing will change except that you'll no longer have to worry that if you lose your job, you'll lose your insurance. Nothing will change except that if you get cancer or have a stroke, your insurance company won't be allowed to deny life-saving care because you reach some arbitrary lifetime cap. Nothing will change except that your checkups and preventive care will be free – a provision that's already helped 54 million Americans with private insurance.

You'll be able to keep your plan and keep your doctor. But now you – not the insurance company – will be in control.”

"The new regulation protects the ability of individuals and businesses to keep their current plan while providing important consumer protections that give Americans – rather than insurance companies – control over their own health care…

The new regulation also provides stability and flexibility to insurers and businesses that offer health insurance coverage as the nation transitions to a more competitive marketplace in 2014 when businesses and consumers will have more affordable choices through exchanges...

While the Affordable Care Act requires all health plans to provide important new benefits to consumers, under the law, plans that existed on March 23, 2010 are exempt from some new requirements. The ‘grandfather rule' issued today makes it clear that these plans can continue to innovate and contain costs by allowing insurers and employers to make routine changes without losing grandfather status. Plans will lose their ‘grandfather' status if they choose to significantly cut benefits or increase out-of-pocket spending for consumers – and consumers in plans that make such changes will gain new consumer protections."

"To understand the lies, you first have to understand the truth. How would ObamaRomneycare change American health care?

For most people the answer is, not at all. In particular, those receiving good health benefits from employers would keep them."

"Obama emphatically promised, ‘If you like your coverage, you can keep it, no matter what.' That's not true either. The restrictions on cost-sharing adjustments leave companies and individuals with little flexibility to change plan details without losing their grandfathered status. The administration estimates between 49 percent and 80 percent of small-employer plans, between 34 percent and 67 percent of large-employer plans, and between 40 percent and 67 percent of individual plans will not be grandfathered by 2014."

"On several occasions during the health care reform debate, President Obama promised the American people, ‘If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.' Now, even the Administration admits that this isn't the case, stating that ‘as a practical matter, a majority of group health plans will lose their grandfather status by 2013.'...

Obamacare puts employers with grandfathered plans in a box. If they make changes to their plans to control increasing costs, they will lose their grandfathered status. Alternatively, if they keep grandfathered status by not making changes, their plans will eventually become unaffordable, forcing them to give them up. Either way, their employees will eventually lose their current coverage..."

"…[M]illions of people are losing ‘the coverage they have now,' and tens of millions more surely will follow...

The Obama administration expects that by 2013, between one-third and two-thirds of the 133 million people with coverage through large employers will lose their grandfathered status. Up to 80 percent of the 43 million people in small employer plans will lose their grandfathered protection. Up to 70 percent of those with coverage in the individual market would be forced to comply with expensive new federal rules within a year. Few of them are likely to lose coverage in the short term, but most will lose the coverage they have now."

"The Affordable Care Act's ‘grandfather rule' (Section 1251, ‘Preservation of Right to Maintain Existing Coverage') purports to uphold the ‘you can keep your health plan' promise. But the regulatory requirements for plans to retain grandfathered status are nearly impossible to abide under existing market conditions. As a result, most plans will fairly quickly relinquish grandfathered status. When they do, the plans will have to come into full compliance with the Affordable Care Act's host of new requirements for health plans. At that point, ‘your plan' will necessarily change.”