"If you like your health insurance, you'll get to keep it." It's a promise that President Obama has been making since he first started running for president. And, on the surface, it sounds like a great idea. But keeping that promise turns out to be extremely difficult.
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article in TNR's print edition explaining why--and describing the policy compromises Obama and his allies were making in order to fulfill that pledge. The story is up on our home page today.
By the way, two of the smartest people I know helped me with this article, by walking me through the wonkish details of this issue--and patiently taking my endless follow-up questions. One was Paul Fronstin, of the Employee Benefit Research Institute. The other is Larry Levitt, of the Kaiser Family Foundation. If the article were a book, I would have footnoted them. Since I couldn't do that, I thought I'd recognize their assistance here.