Even after the White House admitted that some Americans would lose their health insurance – breaking multiple promises by President Obama that people could keep their health plan under ObamaCare – CNN's White House correspondent Brianna Keilar served a generous portion of White House spin on Tuesday that health plans would improve under ObamaCare.
"The White House now admitting that some people will see their health plans change. That does go against what we heard President Obama promise," Keilar reported, quickly adding that "the White House is also saying it might not actually be – or it will not actually be a bad thing for many people."
She omitted the HHS source: "A new study shows 70 percent of eligible Americans between 18 and 34 can now purchase coverage for less than $100 per month."
Meanwhile, NBC reported Monday that the administration knew millions of Americans would lose their health insurance plans due to ObamaCare regulations. Yet Keilar didn't mention this and instead focused most of her report elsewhere rather than on Obama's broken promise of "If you like your plan, you can keep it."
Keilar included quotes from President Obama and Jay Carney talking about "numerous options" on the insurance market and "affordable" plans, under ObamaCare. She did mention the problems with Healthcare.gov, but added the HHS response.
Below is a transcript of the segment, which aired on October 29 on CNN Newsroom at 9:09 a.m. EDT:
MARTIN SAVIDGE: As the first Obama officials face their congressional critics, there is a new shocker now hitting home for millions of Americans. Many may lose their private insurance coverage that they have now. Let's get the very latest from senior White House correspondent Brianna Keilar, and Brianna, this has got to be going against what many thought they heard the President say, which was they wouldn't lose.
BRIANNA KEILAR: Yeah, that's exactly right, Martin. The White House now admitting that some people will see their health plans change. That does go against what we heard President Obama promise, but the White House is also saying it might not actually be – or it will not actually be a bad thing for many people.
(Video Clip)
KEILAR: (voice over) One of the President's longtime promises about his namesake health care reform plan –
BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States: If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.
KEILAR: – is coming under intense scrutiny, as White House officials admit some plans will cease to exist under the law.
JAY CARNEY: It's true that there are existing health care plans on the individual market that don't meet those minimum standards and, therefore, do not qualify for the Affordable Care Act. There are some that can be grandfathered if people want to keep insurance that's substandard. But what is also true is Americans who have insurance on the existing individual market will now have numerous options available to them.
KEILAR: President Obama making an ObamaCare pitch to young people, who must sign up for health insurance by the end of March to avoid a fine.
OBAMA: When you look at the number of young people who actually want health insurance but are having trouble affording it, the fact that we're making it affordable for them for the first time, that's a big deal.
KEILAR: A new study shows 70 percent of eligible Americans between 18 and 34 can now purchase coverage for less than $100 per month. But that's if they can sign up. Healthcare.gov was knocked offline Sunday, along with the data hub that verifies eligibility for government subsidies. Service was restored Monday. As the Health and Human Services department aimed for a November 30th deadline to get the site fully operational, it's giving detailed updates on problems.
The latest says, in part, "We're also getting information on which parts of the application are causing the most errors, enabling us to prioritize what we fix next."
(End Video Clip)
KEILAR: Now, the website is key to getting young people to sign up. They tend to be, of course, more tech savvy and they also tend to be more healthy. And that, Martin, is why they're key to making all of ObamaCare work, because they will offset, is the plan, the older, less healthy, read more expensive to provide health care for.
