500,000 with canceled health plans still lack coverage

An estimated 500,000 people who received cancellation notices have not yet signed up for new coverage, administration officials said Thursday. That's far fewer than the millions that health law critics said would lack insurance after their old policies were terminated because they didn't meet new standards under the health law.

Los Angeles Times: Health Insurance Cancellation Notices Leave 500,000 Uncovered
Fewer than 500,000 people who received health insurance cancellation notices have not yet signed up for new coverage, Obama administration officials said Thursday. The senior administration officials said they had arrived at the estimate over weeks of contacting insurers and combing through the administration's own enrollment data (Hennessey, 12/19).

The Associated Press: 500K With Canceled Health Plans Lack Coverage
The cancellations have become a nagging problem for the White House. President Barack Obama repeatedly promised that people who liked their insurance could keep it under the new health law. Officials say that number could shrink in the coming days (Pace, 12/19).

McClatchy: Only 500,000 People With Cancelled Policies Will Lose Health Care Coverage
Fewer than 500,000 people who had their individual insurance policies cancelled will be without coverage on January 1, the Obama administration estimated Thursday. That's far less than the millions of people that health law critics said would lack insurance after their old policies were terminated because they didn't meet new minimal standards under the Affordable Care Act. Republican lawmakers and conservative groups had maintained that anywhere from four to 14 million people might be without coverage because of the cancellations and difficulty enrolling in new coverage due to technical problems on HealthCare.gov (Pugh and Clark, 12/20).