“If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan,” President Obama said in a town hall meeting in August of 2009. I, like most Americans, was dubious of his claim at the time and we have even more evidence now that shows his statement is not entirely accurate. As the consulting firm Towers Watson found through a recent survey, some employers don’t expect the health care initiative to contain costs and may force them to eliminate or reduce their health care coverage option.

We have already begun to see these take place and, as a result, the Department of Health and Human Services has begun picking winners and losers by offering some companies relief from the requirements.  With its latest round of waivers, HHS once again acknowledges that their mandate of “robust coverage” would lead many businesses to stop offering coverage altogether instead of providing more.   

So when you get down to it, you can keep your health care plan, but only if President Obama says it’s alright by him.

This article by the Associated Press shows the difficulties businesses face and what they’re likely to do to comply with the health reforms supported by President Obama.