Cancellations

One of the arguments made for the 2010 healthcare law was that it attacked the problem of underinsurance -- the threadbare policies that offered such poor coverage, they allowed millions of Americans to be bankrupted by medical bills. Now, however, Democrats are confronting the fact that the law they wrote is forcing thousands of people to lose their current insurance plans because the coverage doesn't meet the new standards. It's a perfect example of the road to political hell being paved by good intentions.

The Rubik's Cube that is healthcare reform might have become even more puzzling for some people Thursday after the operator of California's online insurance exchange rejected President Obama's call for extending the life of canceled policies. Covered California said it'll stick with its Dec. 31 deadline. All plans that don't comply with the requirements of Obamacare must go adios by that day. Unless, that is, they've been grandfathered in. Color June Maguire confused. The 88-year-old Mission Viejo resident was among numerous people who have contacted me in recent days to ask what's what with the Affordable Care Act and what's this grandfathering thing all about anyhow?

Getting good care when you cancel Jane Engle's well-written article regarding cancellations of hotel reservations ["Canceling Your Room?" Oct. 25] was right on point. As an attorney, I've made it a prerequisite to view the relevant cancellation provisions on websites and in written documents. One point, however, should be noted. As rigid and clear as some of the provisions may be, there is still, thankfully, a human factor that should not be ignored. My wife and I recently had planned a trip to New York City and bought "nonrefundable" tickets via Telecharge to some Broadway shows.

California's health insurance exchange remained hesitant to embrace a controversial request from President Obama to extend canceled insurance policies for another year. The state exchange, called Covered California, said Monday that it won't decide until later this week whether 1 million policyholders with expiring policies can keep their coverage for 2014. Last week, Obama sought to quell a public and political backlash over cancellation notices nationwide by urging states and insurers to let people stay in their health plans beyond Dec. 31 even if those policies don't meet all the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. But the president's abrupt move has met resistance from some state officials supportive of the healthcare law and the insurance industry for fear that it will undermine the rollout of new government-run exchanges.

WASHINGTON — What's behind the unusually high rate of contract cancellations and settlement delays in the real estate market? With signs of recovery emerging in many parts of the country, shouldn't deals be zipping along with minimal complications? Apparently not. Nearly one-third of realty agents in a new national survey reported experiencing contract cancellations — purchases crumbling before closing — in February. That's up dramatically from a similar poll 12 months earlier, when just 9% of agents reported cancellations.

  Airline cancellations continued to mount, with a few carriers beginning to cancel flights scheduled for Thursday. Super storm Sandy is now blamed for the cancellation of 18,100 flights, stretching from Saturday to Wednesday, according to the travel monitoring site, Flightaware.com. The canceled flights were primarily to and from storm-ravaged cities along the East Coast. About 50 or so flights were already canceled for Thursday. The website Flightstats.com has animated the effects of the storm on flights in an online video, shown above.

Super storm Sandy has led to the cancellation of about 19,500 flights since Saturday but cancellations are on the decline and two key East Coast airports reopened Wednesday. John F. Kennedy International in New York and Newark Liberty International in New Jersey reopened Wednesday for limited service, but La Guardia International Airport in New York remains closed because of flooding. It remains unclear when La Guardia will reopen and airline officials urged passengers to check on their flight status by phone or online before heading for an airport.

As a nor'easter storm threatens the East Coast, the nation's airlines have canceled more than 1,500 flights scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. The cancellations, about 1,200 for Wednesday and 313 on Thursday, were primarily scheduled to fly in and out of Newark Liberty International in New Jersey and La Guardia and John F. Kennedy International airports in New York. Cancellations were also made for flights in and out of Philadelphia International, Chicago's O'Hare International and Dallas/Fort Worth International airports, according to the flight-monitoring site Flightaware.com.

Getting home after the Christmas holiday continues to be a predicament as a massive storm that has now hit the Northeast grounded thousands of planes for the third straight day. As of Thursday morning, more than 800 flights had been canceled and nearly 5,000 more had been delayed, with most of the planes grounded in Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and New Jersey, according to the flight monitoring site Flightstats.com. Still, the storm's effect has declined compared to Wednesday, when more than 2,000 flights were canceled and more than 12,000 were delayed as the storm cut a wide swath through the mid-Atlantic states, heading northeast.

Qantas and Virgin Australia canceled flights that were scheduled Thursday (Australia time) to New Zealand and the western Australian city of Perth as an ash cloud from a Chilean volcano continued to spread into the area and strand thousands more travelers. The cloud has also wreaked havoc in South America . Disruptions of air travel in various parts of the world could last for months, experts say. The Sydney Morning Herald dubbed the cloud over Perth the "plume of gloom" and explained that levels of ash as low as 15,000 feet posed a safety risk for airlines.

Winston-Salem State quarterback Rudy Johnson was beaten and charges were filed against Virginia State's Lamont Daniel Britt after players from the two teams fought in a restroom during a luncheon for the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Assn. championship-game contenders at Winston-Salem, N.C. The conference announced that the title game set for Saturday at Winston-Salem has been canceled. The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Assn. released a statement Friday on the WSSU website announcing the decision to cancel the football game as well as the volleyball championships, which in part read: "Based on the incident that occurred today, and after consulting with the leadership of each institution and the Football and Volleyball championship committees, the CIAA is saddened to announce that this weekend's Football and Volleyball conference championships that were scheduled to take place in Winston-Salem have been canceled.

WASHINGTON - President Obama's plan to help millions of consumers facing health insurance cancellations calmed Democrats on Capitol Hill on Thursday even as its practical effect appeared unclear. The decision could give some consumers who like their health plans the chance to keep them into 2015, allowing the president to say he honored his pledge that his health law would not force Americans to give up their coverage. "This fix won't solve every problem for every person," the president said in remarks at the White House, in which he took responsibility for the law's botched rollout.

Amid an uproar over widespread cancellations of health insurance policies, Anthem Blue Cross of California said it is granting a two-month extension through February to 104,000 customers. California's largest for-profit insurer is offering more time to a small portion of its canceled policyholders because the insurance giant didn't send termination notices in time under state rules. This move comes at a time when an estimated 1 million Californians and several million more nationwide stand to lose their existing health insurance at the end of the year because it doesn't meet all the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. Under the healthcare law, these consumers are guaranteed replacement coverage regardless of their medical history, and some may qualify for federal premium subsidies.

President Obama apologized last week to people whose health insurance was canceled despite his repeated assurances that if you like your policy, it won't change. The charitable way of putting it is that Obama oversold details of the healthcare-reform law in his speeches. His critics say he flat-out lied. This wouldn't even be an issue if Obama had qualified his remarks simply by adding that you'd be able to keep your insurance as long as it meets minimum standards for coverage, which is a big part of what Obamacare is all about.

After numerous woes forced Kanye West to shift the itinerary of his Yeezus tour, the elaborate production is back on track, a rep for the rapper announced Wednesday. West will resume his tour on Nov. 16 in Philadelphia. Last week, West moved his Nov. 1 gig at the Honda Center in Anaheim to Dec. 13, citing “production logistics.” And in more bad luck, the truck carrying the set's custom-made video truss and a 60-foot circular LED screen was in an accident on the way to Vancouver, Canada, forcing the rapper to postpone the show for a second time as the damaged gear was repaired.

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones says the state health exchange "made a bad decision" by requiring its participating insurers to cancel coverage by Dec. 31 for hundreds of thousands of consumers. "I don't think it was necessary," Jones said in an interview. "I think people should be given the opportunity to stay in their current plans for another year. " Tuesday, Jones discussed a settlement with Blue Shield of California that will buy some more time for about 80,000 policyholders whose policies are being terminated.

U.S. airlines canceled more than 3,000 flights as a major storm bears down on the East Coast. Airlines have grounded 953 flights scheduled for Sunday and nearly 2,200 flights for Monday so far because of Hurricane Sandy, according to FlightStats Inc., a flight-tracking firm. Some of the airports most affected by cancellations were New Jersey's Newark Liberty International, Washington Dulles International and LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports in New York. PHOTOS: Hurricane Sandy, en route to "Frankenstorm" Most airlines said they were waiving fees so travelers could reschedule flights at no cost.

Strong aftershocks from New Zealand's deadly quake, plus a drifting ash cloud from a volcanic eruption in Chile, disrupted flights, temporarily closed airports and stranded travelers in Australia and New Zealand on Monday. South American travelers also continued to be delayed. New Zealand tourism officials are warning travelers to the Christchurch area to be prepared for more aftershocks after a pair of strong earthquakes Monday caused more damage to the city center, already devastated by the deadly quake in February.

In a new line of attack on canceled health policies, two California residents are suing insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross, alleging they were misled into giving up their previous coverage. About 900,000 Californians and many more nationwide have received cancellation notices on their individual health insurance policies, triggering a public uproar against the rollout of President Obama's healthcare law. Some consumers have complained about hefty rate hikes from the forced upgrades because their current plans don't meet all the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. Much of the consumer anger has been directed at Obama's repeated pledge that Americans could keep their existing health insurance if they liked it despite the massive overhaul.