It was a catchy political pitch and a chance to calm nerves about his
dramatic and complicated plan to bring historic change to America’s
health insurance system.
"If you like your health care plan, you can keep it," President Barack Obama said -- many times -- of his landmark new law.
But the promise was impossible to keep.
So this fall, as cancellation letters were going out to approximately
4 million Americans, the public realized Obama’s breezy assurances were
wrong.
Boiling down the complicated health care law to a soundbite proved
treacherous, even for its promoter-in-chief. Obama and his team made
matters worse, suggesting they had been misunderstood all along. The
stunning political uproar led to this: a rare presidential apology.
For all of these reasons, PolitiFact has named "If you like your
health care plan, you can keep it," the Lie of the Year for 2013.
Readers in a separate online poll overwhelmingly agreed with the choice. (Continues)
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