HEALTH CARE Democrats try to prevent Obamacare defections

Some lining up to support bills to halt cancellations

WASHINGTON The White House is stepping up damage- control efforts on Capitol Hill where a number of Democrats are seeking distance from the Affordable Care Act as dissatisfaction rises over the bungled rollout of the health care website.

Democratic angst grew Wednesday after the White House announced that just over 100,000 people had successfully enrolled in the health care exchanges. The administration had initially projected 500,000 would be enrolled by now.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D- Nev., said White House officials will meet privately Thursday with Senate Democrats to discuss those concerns. He declined to comment further, but some Senate Democrats are lining up behind a bill by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D- La., that would allow people to keep their current health insurance plans.

Two of her Democratic supporters are also running for re- election in 2014 in conservative states, but the bill has also drawn support from Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Dianne Feinstein of California, who are not facing re- election. They have raised concerns about how many people are receiving cancellation notices.

“I think a lot of it is that people were assured that they could keep their policy,” Feinstein told reporters, in reference to the president’s oftenstated claim that people who like their insurance could keep it.

People are seeing their coverage dropped or costs rising for existing policies in part because the law includes stricter policy standards, such as coverage for preventive care, and insurers have raised costs to help pay for the new requirements.

A similar bill offered by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R- Mich., will get a Friday vote in the House, where it is expected to pass with some Democratic support. The vote will be a signal of the party’s skittishness over the law, because Democrats have provided near- unanimous opposition to previous GOP efforts to repeal or roll back the law.

White House advisers David Simas and Michael Hash met with House Democrats Wednesday and urged them to oppose the bill because it would jeopardize the foundation of the law. “I don’t want to do anything willfully to dilute or harm the Affordable Care Act, I think it’s a good bill,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D- Va., who said much of the turmoil within the party is over the technical glitches that have hamstrung HealthCare. gov.

Rep. Patrick Murphy, D- Fla., said that White House officials told Democrats they were working to address their concerns. He also said House Democrats could put forward a bill of their own to address concerns with the health care law.

Democratic frustrations over the website, the policy cancellations, and the poor messaging from the White House have reignited GOP calls for a full repeal. “It is a rolling calamity that must be scrapped,” said House Speaker John Boehner, R- Ohio.

“I think we ought to start over,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R- Ky.

EVAN VUCCI, AP Sen. Mary Landrieu, D- La., center, is getting support for a bill that would allow people to keep their current health insurance plans.