The president's obamacare apology: too little, too late?

President Obama is getting some pretty well-deserved flak for his repeated promises that people who like their health insurance plans won't lose them when ObamaCare kicks in next year.

It turns out that millions of people may have to change plans, report _McClatchy_'s Kevin Hall and Anita Kumar, and at least some people in his administration knew that as early as

2010. On Monday, Obama added a caveat to his "you can keep it" pledge. People who buy their own individual insurance, he acknowledged, probably can't keep plans that

don't meet ObamaCare's standards and postdate the signing of the Affordable Care Act — only those plans from before March 2010 that haven't changed substantially are

grandfathered in. As lots of people noted, that's a pretty big caveat. On Thursday, Obama changed course. In an interview with NBC News' Chuck Todd, the president apologized to

those people who have to switch insurance plans. (Watch above; the first 13 minutes are all about ObamaCare. You can view nearly three minutes of Obama promising that people can keep their

health care plans below.) Here are a few of the ways he apologized: SUBSCRIBE TO THE WEEK Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. Obama also took responsibility for ObamaCare's shoddy

rollout, defended Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and called Joe Biden one of the best vice presidents ever. But it's his contrition over the dropped insurance

plans that's getting the most attention. Will it matter? Well, it is "a moment of historical significance to hear Barack Obama apologize for screwing up," or really apologize

for anything, says Tim Stanley at Britain's _The Telegraph_. But that's "small comfort to the millions who risk losing their existing plans." No, Obama's apology was

"exactly the right thing" for him to do, says Andrew Sullivan at _The Dish_. "He should have done it sooner," but he did it, and that matters. Actually, the interview

was a little disappointing, says Lynn Sweet at the _Chicago Sun-Times_. Perhaps the most remarkable part of the president's apology was his apparent "inability to sincerely express

empathy." A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com Obama tried to put the cancellation notices in perspective, repeatedly

noting that five percent number — those who bought individual policies after March 2010, Sweet notes. "But if you are one of the five percent and are angry and feel duped — I don't

blame you. You are entitled to your story." Courtesy of the _Washington Free Beacon_, here's a highlight reel of Obama promising three dozen times that people can keep their

health care plans in the age of ObamaCare: