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White House: Some plans are changing, but 'that's the whole point'

The White House took ownership of the slew of changed or cancelled insurance policies on Friday, saying Obamacare was giving consumers better plans for less.

White House spokesman Jay Carney acknowledged the issues plaguing the roll-out of Obamacare Friday on Morning Joe, but he pushed back on the notion that changed or cancelled insurance plans were a bad thing. Those cancelled plans, Carney suggested, were inadequate in the first place.

"If you have a crummy plan that doesn’t give you hospitalization, lifetime or annual caps on your insurance, charges you double because you’re a woman, that’s the status quo," he said. Now, "you’re going to have the opportunity to get minimum standards of insurance and for many, if not most, cheaper for what you’re paying now. That’s the whole point of the Affordable Care Act."

Carney also said the administration takes responsibility for the glitches and sign-up problems that have marred the roll-out of the healthcare reform law since day one.

"We get that there have been problems with the roll out, and we own that," Carney said. "The end goal isn’t a perfect roll out or a website, it’s getting affordable insurance to people who need that insurance."

(Careful viewers might notice a surprise visitor to the interview: First Dog Bo Obama.)