'ESSENTIAL' BENEFITS

Now that the law is fully coming into effect, Americans are receiving notifications from their insurers that their current plans cannot continue because they do not cover certain "essential" benefits such as preventive care and mental health services as required by the law.

The idea was to phase out bare-bones plans that do not cover catastrophic events, sometimes to the surprise of the consumer, and also have the effect of increasing costs across the healthcare system.

When asked by a reporter on Tuesday whether Obama misled the public, White House spokesman Jay Carney redirected the conversation to state that it was not fair for taxpayers to absorb costs of the uninsured or under-insured.

"There was a debate about this and I'm sure there will continue to be a debate that a fundamental premise of the Affordable Care Act is that there ought to be minimum standards for insurance coverage for everybody," Carney said.

But some Americans are reporting sticker shock about the new plans their insurers are offering.

Kevin DeLashmutt, 53, who is self-employed in real estate in Seattle, Washington, said that over the summer he received a letter from his insurance company saying the plan he now has is no longer available.

The cheapest plan he could buy would cost $411, about twice his current premium, while the plan most like the one he has would cost about 150 percent more - $542.59.

"You used to be able to choose what to get based on what you need and what you can afford, including a high deductible," DeLashmutt said. "Let me manage my own risk. Those people in Washington, D.C., shouldn't get to make that decision for me."

MULTIPLE HEADACHES

Besides the rocky Obamacare rollout, Obama is facing protests from allies, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, after it was revealed that the United States for years has spied on foreign heads of state.

The issues are distracting him from other policy goals, including comprehensive immigration reform.

It is unclear exactly how many Americans may lose their current coverage and whether they truly will be forced into more expensive plans.

The law does protect plans that were created before the March 2010 law and have not changed since then, but it is common industry practice for insurers to tweak plans year to year, leading to a flood of cancellations.

These people can either seek new "off exchange" policies from insurers, or try to find cheaper plans through the exchanges that come with a federal tax subsidy if their income is low enough.

If the glitches in the online marketplaces fail to be resolved, the government might have to reinforce low-tech alternatives such as call centers and paper applications, one expert said.

"If they can't enroll before the end of this year ... it's a serious burden on those people," said Joel Cantor, a public policy professor at Rutgers University who advises New Jersey on issues with the healthcare law.

Republicans have been able to harness the frustration to energize their latest attack on Obamacare.

"The problems don't stop at the technical failures of a website," said Representative Sam Johnson, a Republican from Texas, at the oversight hearing on Tuesday. "The real problem stems from the colossal failure to deliver what this law promised the American people."