Mr. Pfeiffer and other liberals suggest that UnitedHealthcare is profiteering, but that's an odd way to describe a company that has spent $1.2 million on Mrs. Sundby's cancer care. Liberals also claim the company could have moved Mrs. Sundby's policy to the Covered California exchange, but the company isn't participating precisely because the exchange rules are too restrictive. And none of the other insurers that are participating in the state exchange offer a PPO with Mrs. Sundby's current coverage. Thus she may lose her preferred doctor as well as her insurance.

The reason goes to the political control that is the animating purpose of ObamaCare. No fewer than 33 insurers tried to join the California exchange, but state regulators would only approve 13. This is by design because ObamaCare's planners want to limit insurance choices to reduce costs and to equalize coverage. Having opted out on first call, UnitedHealthcare is now barred by a California "lock out" clause from selling individual insurance until 2017.

President Obama praised this California exchange model in June for its "excellent results," adding on a trip to San Jose that "none of this is a surprise. This is the way that the law was designed to work." Precisely.

To stem the uproar over cancelled insurance, Mr. Obama and the left are now insisting that the old policies were inferior and the new exchange policies are better. But tell that to Mrs. Sundby and millions of others who are willing to pay to have access to the hospital and doctor of their choice.

The truth is that ObamaCare's insurance is by and large the inferior coverage, which is why insurers are calling it "Medicaid Plus." To keep costs low, ObamaCare has to stuff patients into policies with narrow doctor networks and fewer treatment choices. Liberals then fall back on the claim that everyone's coverage is guaranteed—unless, of course, you live in San Diego and want to get care at M.D. Anderson.

As it imposes these policy cancellations, ObamaCare is also systematically destroying one of the best features of the current individual market, known as "guaranteed renewability at class-average rates." This meant that once an insurance policy was issued, people could renew their coverage year after year at the same rates as their peer group. So someone like Mrs. Sundby who got sick would not pay higher premiums than average and her insurer could not deny coverage—unless UnitedHealthcare quit the business. This guaranteed renewability is no longer a guarantee thanks to ObamaCare.