Many people expose and no levees and no protection at all, that was astonishing to me. Ifill those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. United healthcare online at uhc. Com. The william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff members of Congress Took fresh aim at the new Health Care Law today. The house ways and Means Committee called in the head of the centers for medicare and medicaid services, who accepted responsibility for some of the problems with the Health Care Web site. Newshour Congressional Correspondent kwame holman begins our coverage. To the millions of americans who have attempted to use let thot shop sand enroll in health care coverage, i want to apologize to you that the web sipt has not worked as well as it should. Reporter at the outset, Health Program administrateor marilyn tavier acknowledged the problems with the web site that launched october 1. But she ran into skeptics over the administrations new timeline to fix the computer access roadblocks by the end of november. Youve had nearly four years to get it ready, now youre saying in four weeks more it will be great. So whats different . Why should anyone believe these claims . Because i think we have identified two major problems one had to do with the initial volume and despite our best volume projections, we underestimated the volume, the interest in the site. The second thing is we have found some what i will call functional or glitches as we call them the public term for the actual application itself which were repairing. Reporter outside contractors have said tavenners agency curtailed testing of a site meant to enroll millions of uninsured americans in 36 states. Do you have an idea of how many applicants became enrollees. Reporter today tavenner said 700,000 have applied, she declined to say how many enrolled. We wont have that until midnovember. We have people shopping now. We expect the initial number to be small and i think youve seen this in hour projections. Reporter Committee Republicans also challenged tavenner on other aspects of the Affordable Care act beyond the technical problems of the healthcare. Gov web site. Among them whether president obama has broken his promise that americans would be able to keep their existing health plans if they wanted them. Ways and Means Committee chairman dave camp bore in on that point. This man wrote he and said my wife has been recently informed by her insurance carrier that her Health Care Policy does not comply with the Affordable Care act. Now we must purchase a new policy to get the same coverage at an 18 increase in our premium. So what happened to the if you like your insurance you can keep it question . Now if, in fact, the issuer has decided to change the plan, didnt have to, but plans were grandfathered in in 2010 and if they offer new plans they have to come in to the requirements of the Affordable Care act. So what i wouldel that individual is if their carrier is telling them theyre changing the plan and theyre offering an increase, that they would need to go take a look at whats available in their state and in their market which is certainly something thats available to them through the exchange. Reporter democrats have joined in criticizing the health plan cancellations and online malfunctions. But they also voiced frustration with republicans today as in this exchange. Lets not water wine here. Lets say it like it is you refuse to expand many of these governors medicaid, they refuse to set up state marketplaces to leaving millions of dollars in outreach on the table in education funding, what are you gonna do about the approximately 17 million children wpl preexisting conditions who can no longer be denied Health Insurance coverage . Its a false choice to say its obamacare or nothing. There are numerous proposals, including the one im a cosponsor of. Are you serious, what you just said . Are you really serious . Weve gone through 44 votes 48 votes now of you trying to dismantle this legislation. You call that cooperation . I dont reporter next up, tavenners boss health and Human Services secretary kathleen sebelius. She appears tomorrow before the house energy and commerce committee. Rough woodruff well talk about the growing complaints that existing insurance policies are being canceled, right after the news summary. Lawmakers from both parties called today for barring the sweeping surveillance of phone calls and emails. But the chair of the House Intelligence Committee warned it would hurt the hunt for terrorists. Meanwhile, white house officials said president obama is considering ending eavesdropping on allied leaders. More on all of this, later in the program. Hardhit areas of new york and new jersey marked one year today, since Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc along the northeastern u. S. Coastline. The storm was blamed for 181 deaths and 65 billion in damage across more than a dozen states. Seaside heights, new jersey, is one of the beach towns that remains heavily damaged. And many who are rebuilding say theyre concerned about getting affordable Flood Insurance. Fema said the government with all these associations that say they want to help you but in the end you dont qualify for anything. We dont even know to be honest whether well be able to afford to keep our house once were in it. Woodruff in washington, a Bipartisan Group of lawmakers introduced a bill today to delay changes to the federal Flood Insurance program that would make it more expensive. The Winter Olympics in russia begin in 100 days, and now theres word that Illegal Dumping could taint the water supply for the games. The Associated Press reported today that contractors are burying construction waste at an illegal landfill outside sochi. The site lies in a Water Protection zone. The russian government promised a zero waste effort as part of its winning olympic bid. Police in china said today that a car crash in beijings forbidden city was likely a deliberate act. They said the people in the car apparently set themselves on fire. We have a report narrated by john sparks of independent television news. Reporter normality returned to Tiananmen Square today. The clouds came back and the police did their checks and it all seemed calm orderly. As for yesterdays events, there wasnt anything to see. Its impossible to deny what happened, however. A 4 x 4 burst into flames after it was driven at speeds through a pedestrian thoroughfare packed with tourists. Five people were killed and 38 injured. State media acknowledged the incident late last night but the presenter had few details to offer. Police sources have reportedly described the incident as a Suicide Attack and theyve begun circulating this leaflet to local hotels asking for information about men in vehicle from a region in western china. Its home to the Muslim Uighurs and many members of this ethnic group complain of cultural and religious repression. Frustration has turned to violence, rioting there in 2009 cost the lives of 200 and this summer saw a large number of violent incidents. The Police Stepped up security in and around the capital today on the lookout for future attacks. Such incidents are rare in beijing but they serve as a reminder of instability and vulnerability at the worlds most populous state. Woodruff in syria, the World Health Organization has now confirmed ten cases of polio in the northeast, and its warning the disease could spread across the region. The w. H. O. Also urged the Syrian Government and rebels to allow access to some 500,000 children who need to be immunized. Well have more on this story a little later. The first underwater rail link between europe and asia was opened today in turkey. The eightmile tunnel runs beneath the strait of bosphorus, connecting the european and asian sides of istanbul. Construction began in 2004, and cost almost 3 billion. Its one of Prime MinisterTayyip Erdogans mega projects, designed to modernize turkey. Other projects include a massive canal and the worlds busiest airport. The u. S. Bailout of General Motors will end up costing taxpayers just under 10 billion. The Inspector General for the Bailout Program reported the it today. The effort initially cost 50 but the treasury has recouped much of that by selling its stake in g. M. Wall street racked up new gains on optimism that the Federal Reserve will continue its stimulus efforts. In anticipation of its decisions, the Dow Jones Industrial average gained 111 points to close at 15,680, an alltime high. The nasdaq rose 12 points to close at 3952. The s p finished at a record close near 1772. Still ahead on the newshour, why thousands of insurance plans have been canceled as a result of the Health Reform law; top intelligence officials defend the scope of u. S. Spying; what the dutch can teach us about preparing for extreme weather; polio adds to the humanitarian crisis in syria; and poet Billy Collins on his latest book. Ifill hundreds of thousands of americans have been surprised in recent weeks with cancellation notices from their Health Insurance companies. Many of them are unhappy at being forced back into the Health Care Marketplace even as the federal government struggles to get the Affordable Care act up and running. Why the change . And does it constitute a broken president ial promise . For that, we turn to Jonathan Gruber, a Health Economist at m. I. T. Whos considered one of the many architects of the Affordable Care act. And robert lazewski, a consultant to the Health Insurance industry. Welcome to you, gentlemen. Okay, i have to start with you, Jonathan Gruber, since you are one of the architects of the Affordable Care act. Did the president make a promise he couldnt keep . You know, i dont want to get into the president s word choice but the president said is people can keep the insurance they like he probably should have said people can keep the Quality Insurance that they like. Theres a lot of insurance throughout that isnt Quality Insurance that are has various limitations with it. But the key thing to remember is that this is not an issue for the vast majority of americans. The vast majority of americans have Health Insurance from their employer or government and thats not touched. This is an issue for the substantial minority, maybe 5 or 6 of americans, that buy insurance on their own. About half of that population will probably have to buy up because of this law. Their policies are getting changed. Others their policies are getting canceled but they can buy things that are substantively similar. Ifill robert lazewski, what about that . Was this at the very least an oversimplification . Well, youre looking at one of the people who the promise wasnt kept for. I have an individual Health Insurance policy. I received my cancellation letter a few weeks ago. It wasnt a junk policy. I think one of the things i hear that Obama Administration say weve got all these substan start policies. That just isnt the case. I had a goldplated Health Insurance plan. I could go to any doctor or hospital in the United States virtually. I could go to mayo clinic, the cleveland clinic. Ive been in the Health Insurance business for 40 years. I had a cadillac plan. My Health Insurance company sent me a cancellation notice, told me i could go look at other plans for january. The best plan i can find personally is another blue cross plan, im happy to stay in that network. But its got a much narrower network, hundreds of thousands of providers less, the deductble is 500 higher and the rate increase is 56 more. I spoke a good friend in fresno who told me his grand daughter is getting a 43 increase and shes got a terrific plan. Ifill lets distinguish between this is a small percentage of people, that just isnt the case. Ifill lets distinguish between anecdotes and the larger question, mr. Lazewski, which is how much of this is when youre talking about people like you in the individual market as opposed to people who get their insurance most people from their employers or medicare and medicaid . According to the association of Health Insurance plans, there are 19 Million People in the individual Health Insurance market. The vast majority of them are not going to be socalled grandfathered and keep their plans. If you bought your plan since march of 2010 it is not grandfathered. Youre not gonna be able to keep it. If you have a plan in force between march of 2010, the only way you can keep it is if you made almost no change to it. Phenomenon the individual Health Insurance market, its very common for people to increase their deductibles in order to avoid rate increases. My estimate is Something Like 80 of the people in the individual Health Insurance market between now and december 2014 wont be able to keep the plan theyre in. Ifill you put a lot out there. Let me give mr. Grub err chance to respond to that. Sure, and this is a matter of degrees. I agree with mr. Lazewski that some people wont keep their plan. Let me point out a couple facts. The 19 million number is wrong. Thats with people for a supplement to the group insurance, not their primary insurance. The number of americans from individual insurance to primary insurance 12 million. Big number but smaller. Remember, gwen, less than 10 of the share of people that get insurance from their employer. So were talking about a substantial minority of the population. Ifill and yet the president made a promise and 12 Million People are going to have to ifill mr. Lazewski, let me finish this up. In pittsburgh they sent out cancellation notices to 20 , mr. Gruber. In florida, florida blue cross sent them out to 80 of their members. In philadelphia to 45 . That may seem small but it sounds like big chunks of the individual market are being carved up here. Absolutely, gwen. The first thing i want to point out is it f. I. S. Individual market. Second point, this is a market with huge turnover anyway. Only 17 of this market stay in this market for more than two years. This market turns over a lot anyway. Third, thats right, there are some people the president definitely generalalized. Some people wont be able to keep their policies but most people losing policies not most people, about half the people losing policies will be able to buy insurance comparable to what they had. About half wont. Ifill but what happens if you lose your you get your cancellation notice today and you want to go online to get the new insurance but you cant because of the problems are w the system, with the web site, and you are not covered in january or whatever this kicks in . I completely agree that as a problem with the web site not working by the end of november. Its nice to be able to shop today but you need to be signed up by middecember. This is a huge issue and i would just mr. Lazewski, go ahead. To just help your audience, any people who have gotten the cancellation letters, i renewed my policy by calling my Insurance Company directly and going around the site. The bad news is i wasnt able to shop because i went to one carrier and the other thing is if i need subsidies i cant get a subsidy from my carrier because they cant get into the subsidy system either. That is a fallback temporarily. I would encourage people call their incumbent carrier and get the best situation they can so they dont have a lapse in coverage. Ifill thats a temporary fix mr. Lazewski. Go ahead, mr. Gruber. Thats the only fix there is, gwen. Healthcare. Gov doesnt work. Ifill mr. Gruber . The point is it doesnt have to work yet. Im not saying its not a shame, its a problem, i wish it worked but were panicking over a shortrun problem. It doesnt have to work yet. It these work by the end of november or middecember so people can sign up. Oh, my goodness healthcar