Sen. Durbin: Obamacare Promise "Should Have Been Clarified"
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN: You know, Senator Durbin, we traffic a lot of comments that come in and out of our news channel daily. So many critics have said President Obama lied. I mean they're using the "L" word liberally to say he lied, this whole idea that you can keep your health insurance if you like it. Did he lie, or was this a colossal mistake? How did that happen?
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): A couple more sentences added would clarify it. The president apologized. He said very clearly he was sorry if he misled people. Here's the bottom line. The bottom line is, in my state of Illinois, 1.8 million people have no health insurance. Across our nation, 40 million without health insurance. If we are going to move beyond this sorry state and give people the peace of mind.
BANFIELD: I agree. I want to know how it happened though. If we're going to move beyond it, we need to know what the mistake that just slipped by everybody? How did this happen, Senator?
DURBIN: It should have been added in this private insurance market every two years, two out of three policies are canceled and changed. This happens frequently in this niche of the market, this part of the market. It should have been clarified from the start but there home run ways to resolve this.
BANFIELD: Who gave the president those talking points? Who wrote those speeches?
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: He went out over and over again and said it.
DURBIN: I certainly wasn't in on that decision. We've got to keep our eye on the goal.
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: You also said it, sir. Senator, you also said it.
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: Over and over again, you said it, if you like your policy, you can keep it.
DURBIN: Well, I said it because I believed it. Now I know I should have added, for 98 percent of American people, that is exactly true. For the other 2 percent in the individual market, there is frequent changes in policies. People are used to increases in their premiums and changes in their policies. That is something that's a reality. It should have been clarified.
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