Levin hammered for saying people are 'transitioned' to new health coverage

Congressman Sandy Levin is getting hammered on Twitter for apparently saying that those who are losing their health insurance coverage in the individual market due to Obamare are “transitioning” to new policies that meet new standards.

Conservative critics, including Michelle Malkin, have sent tweets ridiculing Levin’s description of the loss of insurance reportedly experienced by millions of people under the Affordable Care Act.

The Royal Oak Democrat’s remarks came at the House Ways and Means Committee hearing this morning. Republican members of the committee came armed with numerous anecdotes about people who have seen their policy cancelled and now face big premium hikes are large deductibles as an alternative.

Marilyn Tavenner, head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, apologized to the panel for the disastrous launch of healthcare.gov.“I want to apologize to [the American people] that the website has not worked as well as it should,” she said. “We know how desperately you need affordable coverage… this initial experience has not lived up to our expectations or the expectations of the American people and it is not acceptable,” said Tavenner, whose CMS agency has overseen the Obamacare website project.

Levin, the ranking Democrat on the committee, defended the administration and said that similar rollout problems were experienced with Medicare Part D during the Bush years. In the states that were cooperative and opted for their own online exchanges, he added, the websites are working well.

“We start this hearing facing a basic reality: Democrats want to make the Affordable Care Act work. Congressional Republicans don't. That reality has been reflected in 40-plus efforts by Republicans to repeal, dismantle or defund the Affordable Care Act,” said Levin, who represents most of Macomb County.

“That reality was reflected in their zeal shutting down the government and jeopardizing the full faith and credit of our nation, damaging our nation's global standing and leading to enduring harm, costing our economy $24 billion, tens of thousands of jobs, and a dramatic drop in consumer confidence.”

According to The Hill, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, a Midland Republican, countered that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told his committee “a dozen times that the administration would be ready” for the Oct. 1 enrollment launch.“We now know this administration was not ready,” he said, adding that if CMS had been more transparent about the problems it faced in the run-up, “many of these glitches could have been avoided.”

According to The Washington Times, Camp said the reports from Michigan indicate that the state’s actual enrollees could probably fit in his office. As for CMS complaints about a rushed timeframe for the healthcare.gov project, Camp concluded: “Frankly, three years should have been enough.” he said in his opening statement.

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