in most cases mean significant cost increases, coverage shrinkage and possible deductible changes?
This is not the case. The plans that are being canceled do not meet the minimum coverage requirements. Their coverage is not shrinking, it's expanding. The companies can change them to meet the minimum requirement without significant cost increases, but they won't because that is not the most profitable thing to do and lets face it, insurance companies are not there to help, they are there to make as much money with as little exposure as possible. I would love for them to increase my coverage without notifying me, but they aren't going to increase coverage without taking their pound of flesh.
There is a pretty large false equivalency at work here. People aren't getting their gold star plans canceled to have them replaced with super expensive lead plans. They are having lead plans canceled and replaced with aluminum plans. No one is losing a great plan, people are only losing plans that were passable at best because the legal standard for passable finally changed for the better. Trying to frame it otherwise is disingenuous.
"appoint a council of perfect guardians of rightness".
Isn't this what they've already done by creating a group of people with absolute power of delete?
I think there's a world market for about five computers. -- attr. Thomas J. Watson (Chairman of the Board, IBM), 1943