Sebelius: Just a ‘Fraction’ of ‘a Portion’ of Insured Americans Losing Coverage

GINGREY: "Why has it taken three and one half years to finalize a simple application form for an exemption from the individual mandate?"
SEBELIUS: "Sir, as you know, the individual mandate is not in place until next year. We have made it very clear that if somebody is Medicaid eligible in a state that doesn't choose --"
GINGREY: "My last question and my last second. Sixteen million people in the individual market have or will receive cancellation notices stating their health insurance coverage does not meet minimum coverage requirements of the Affordable Care Act. It grants you the power to determine the criteria for hardship exemption. Will you provide all of these individuals a hardship exemption since the Affordable Care Act is taking away their plan? Will do you that?"
SEBELIUS: "No, sir. And I think those numbers are far from accurate. Ninety-five percent of Americans who have health insurance will be in a continuous plan -- Medicare, Medicaid, employer based, va. 95 percent. Five percent who are in the individual market, a portion of those 5 percent, a portion of them, about 12 million people, a fraction of those 12 million will have a plan that doesn't meet the criteria and has not been grandfathered in. They are indeed receiving notices. Many of those individuals, half of them, will be eligible for financial help getting a new plan. And they have many more choices in the marketplace, so we will not have a blanket exemption."
GINGREY: "Sounds like a hardship to me."