Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D., Md.) conceded the launch of the Obamacare has created a "crisis of confidence" among the general public Tuesday in a Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing.
Mikulski, addressing CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavener, said the dysfunctional website, the canceling of policies, and the sticker shock in the individual insurance market all contributed to this "crisis of confidence." Moreover, Mikulski noted these problems could discourage young people from enrolling, posing a risk to the entire healthcare law:
BARBARA MIKULSKI: [...] The launching of the Affordable Care Act has been more than bumpy. I believe there has been a crisis of confidence created in the dysfunctional nature of the website, the canceling of policies, and sticker shock from some people. In my own state of Maryland, it was also happy. We read in The Baltimore Sun this morning that 73,000 Marylanders' policies will be canceled. So, there has been fear, doubt, and a crisis of confidence. So let me get to where I am. It is not to finger point. It is to pinpoint. What I worry about is there is such a crisis of confidence people will not enroll, and the people we need to and role, particularly young people, to make this whole system work will not happen. [...]