Obama's Broken Promise Of Keeping Insurance Stirring Widespread Anger

President Barack Obama's soothing promise that Americans happy with their health insurance could simply keep it was doomed from the start, and everyone familiar with the market seemed to recognize that except the president. Even his aides said four years ago, early in the huge push for his healthcare law, that he wasn't to be taken literally on that point.

But he kept making the promise, literally and forcefully, through the long debate about the overhaul, after it became law, and directly to voters in the campaign for the 2012 election. The words sometimes varied but the message didn't: Not only was a better day coming for people with no insurance or bad insurance — but everyone else could just relax.

Now his assurance is proving empty for people who are getting cancellation notices in the individual or small-business insurance marketplace and for workers who are beginning to see jarring changes in their employer-provided plans. Although they are a minority of the insured, they are adding up to millions of people.

Obama said Wednesday that those who are seeing individual policies canceled should "just shop around" and get another one.

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