WASHINGTON -- Frustration with the botched, politically uncomfortable rollout of the president's health care law is beginning to mount to unsustainable levels among congressional Democrats. On Wednesday morning, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) announced that he was co-sponsoring a bill to allow individuals who buy their own insurance to stay on their current health care plans indefinitely rather than be forced into better regulated plans through the newly created exchanges. Coming from one of the Senate's most notably progressive voices, the Oregon Democrat's announcement was a particularly vivid demonstration of how nervous party members are over the state of the Affordable Care Act. The flawed website, combined with the steady stream of news of insurers forcing people to adopt more comprehensive and at times expensive plans in response to new regulations, had already persuaded five other Democrats to support the Keeping the Affordable Care Act Promise Act, introduced by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.). Meanwhile, in the House, patience among Democrats was wearing remarkably thin. Lawmakers in that chamber were, by and large, staying away from a Republican-pushed measure that would allow people to stay on their plans for another year. But top aides were warning of a swarm of potential defections should the Obama administration not introduce its own administrative fix for the issue of canceled health insurance plans by the end of the week. At a caucus meeting on Wednesday, they relayed those frustrations directly to administration officials. Those officials, along with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), urged members to oppose the GOP measure sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), arguing that it would gut a major component of Obamacare. A Democratic aide said that the case being made against the Upton bill was multilayered. Not only would it allow current policyholders to continue their coverage, opponents argue, but it would allow new applicants to purchase that coverage as well -- all but encouraging healthy individuals to avoid the exchanges in favor of cheaper plans while leaving sick and older Americans in the newly created marketplace. The other major problem with the Upton bill that the aide noted was that it would extend this grandfather provision for just a year, meaning that people would be receiving cancellation notices in October of next year, a month before the 2014 elections. This, the aide noted, would be "problematic." On Tuesday, White House press secretary Jay Carney said of the Upton plan, "We do not see that as fixing the problem. We see that as throwing the baby out with the bathwater." But his comments were bill-specific. Asked if the same rejection applied to the Landrieu legislation, an Obama administration official said that Carney was only addressing Upton's version.

• published: 14 Nov 2013
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