Obama apologizes for Americans losing insurance due to Obamacare

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday said sorry to Americans who are losing their current health insurance plans as a result of the president's signature health care overhaul that is aimed at expanding the country's health care coverage.

"I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me," Obama said in an interview with NBC News.

"We've got to work hard to make sure that they know we hear them and we are going to do everything we can to deal with folks who find themselves in a tough position as a consequence of this," he said.

The Obama administration has been under fire following reports that some Americans, who buy insurance on their own, have received cancellation notices from insurers or are at risk of being forced off their current plans that do not meet the new standards of the Affordable Care Act, often dubbed as Obamacare.

Obama has repeated his assurances that "if you like your health plan, you will be able to keep your health plan" with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the country's largest health care reform in decades.

Obama's comments also came as the federal government's health care team has been working around-the-clock to fix the online health care marketplace plagued with technical problems since its debut on Oct. 1.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made her apology last week before lawmakers for the technical problems of the HealthCare.gov, an online marketplace for affordable insurance plans.

The online marketplace serves as the centerpiece of the Affordable Care and aims at getting millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans enrolled for health care coverage.

But after its debut on Oct. 1, the website has witnessed high-profile failures and almost out of service during the first two weeks. Many consumers have reported difficulties of signing up and getting enrolled. The Obama administration has vowed to fix the broken website by the end of this month.

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