HHS Secy Burwell On ‘If You Like Your Healthcare Plan’ Promise: More Have Insurance, ‘Many Tools’ Provided

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Wolf,” HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell responded to a question on promises that people who like their healthcare plans could keep them by pointing to the “drop in the uninsured” and “many tools that we are providing.”

Burwell was asked by anchor Wolf Blitzer, “[W]hatever happened to, if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep your healthcare plan. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Those were promises made six years ago, but you haven’t been able to live up to that, right?

Burwell answered, “You know, with regard to folks, many of the people we’ve seen in the drop in uninsured be 20 million folks. And for those people, they didn’t have insurance before the Affordable Care Act. So, for 20 million Americans they didn’t have that insurance, and now they have that insurance, and they have choices. In addition, what I would say is, there are many tools that we are providing. And that’s one of the things that’ll be continuing to improve in this open enrollment, are the tools so you can go on and you can shop by doctor, you can shop by drugs, in terms if there are certain prescriptions that you take. And so, in terms of increasing the choice, and increasing the ability to even have plans, if you had any pre-existing conditions, and for those millions of American who have coverage that didn’t before, they’re certainly in a place that is much different.”

(h/t Grabien)

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