Go get ’em Jay!

Via RCP:

ALEXIS SIMENDINGER, RCP: Jay, can I just follow up on what we were just talking about? Because you are addressing the legislation, can you clarify the president is saying that Senator Landrieu’s approach and Congressman Upton’s approach, which is gaining some Democratic sponsors, is in his view the wrong approach to resolve the problem of those who got transition letters in the individual market?

JAY CARNEY: What I would tell you is that the Upton bill allows insurers to sell 2013 plans in 2014 to anyone. It does not just continue 2013 plans to 2014 for people enrolled in those plans. That creates the problem I just described and creates all sorts of problems for insurers who are trying to sell plans that meet the basic standards. And it allows those insurers who would sell those 2013 plans that either charge you double or put caps on benefits or do any of the number of things that make those plans insufficient when it comes to basic coverage and basically sell them to any takers. And obviously if the coverage is substandard they would at least potentially be able to undersell those plans and undermine the basic premise of the Affordable Care Act which is to provide basic benefits, affordable quality health insurance for everyone.

SIMENDINGER: And the same would be the case for the Senate bill?

CARNEY: I don’t have the details on that. I would just say that broadly speaking that applies to the Upton legislation. Broadly speaking, we do not see that as fixing the problem, we see that as throwing the baby out with the bath water.