[smsm42]

>>> No, high-deductible plans are not "illegal" under the ACA.

Of course, the mere fact that plan is high-deductible does not make it illegal. However, as far as I know, under ACA it is illegal to offer plans that restrict coverage of certain options. Which makes specific plans that were restricting them (and thus making the plans cheaper) illegal, and they are getting cancelled because of this.

>>> There are some suspiciously similar stories floating around the conserv-o-sphere involving vaguely specified elderly couples

I've personally seen multiple scans of officially looking letters saying things in the vein of "our insurance company discontinues this plan because of ACA". Are you saying all of these scans are fake and produced by astro-turf propaganda? To choose most "propagandy" one, just to get it out of the way, here's an example: http://michellemalkinblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/screen... This is from Michelle Malkin, google who it is if you don't know, it is a very real (though not that elderly) person. Is it true or fake?

[timr]

As I said: some existing plans don't meet the requirements of the new law, and are being discontinued. It doesn't matter if I think your one cherry-picked example is fake, because, again, some plans are being discontinued.

Regardless, high-deductible plans are legal under the ACA.