US President Barack Obama is giving a one-year reprieve to what appears to be millions of Americans whose health insurance policies were being cancelled because they failed to meet the standards of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), colloquially known as “Obamacare”.

Mr. Obama went before the media and said his administration had “fumbled the rollout” of his flagship domestic policy. 

“The bottom line is insurers can extend current plans that would otherwise be cancelled into 2014,” he said, “And the American people - those who got cancellation notices deserve and have received - an apology from me.”

In addition to the cancellations, the federal government website for people to sign up for Obamacare has been plagued with stalls and crashes so bad that fewer than 27,000 people in 36 US states have successfully enrolled in healthcare policies on the federal website since it launched on 1 October.  In comparison, about 79,000 enrolled using websites run by states.

The ACA was signed into law on 23 March 2010 after months of political wrangling, and years of debate.  Despite knowing that the ACA would be in full effect in January 2014, insurance companies waited until the past few weeks to mail out letters informing many customers that their policies didn’t muster up, and would be cancelled. 

The insurance industry has been an unfaithful partner in the process.  Although the ACA requires most all Americans to buy healthcare coverage from insurance companies, they spent more than A$155 Million on advertising against it and more than A$600 Million on lobbying to defeat it.  The regulations within the ACA lower the cost of healthcare coverage, prevent gouging, and subsidizes more comprehensive coverage for those who previously couldn’t afford it.