Unfortunately, I DON'T think he knew. I think he is just that out of touch with what he was/is promoting.
The President probably didn't realize there would be that many people "happy with" keeping policies that don't meet minimum standards...He was wrong because people buy JUNK all the time(see MADE IN CHINA) and insurance is no exception so that was his oversight(thinking people would want a better option instead of the cheaper option)...
Since no one was allowed to read the bill before it was passed into law ("You can read it after you pass it" - Nancy Pelosi), no one really knew what was going to happen.
Another one of those "gotcha quotes" that is taken out of context...First off, the quote was "we have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it"...If you're going to quote, let's quote instead of paraphrasing(and bad paraphrasing at that)...See how distorted your version is? And she meant that there was so much misinformation being spread about the contents of the bill that the truth would only be known once the bill was passed...Also keep in mind that bills are constantly being debated and undergoing revisions through that process so you really never know what their full contents will be until they are passed anyway...
No one bothered to consult with the insurance companies to see how they would react.
All major players(insurance companies, medical institutions, big pharma, etc.) have been at the table for years ironing this all out...Believe it or not, politicians don't just sit around a table and come up with all this stuff themselves, they rely on people and groups much more informed than they are to brainstorm the issues and come up with solutions...
No one checked to see what would happen if the number of people signing up did not hit the numbers they expected. No one checked to see how long it would take to set up a website that could handle the volume of hits it is getting. They were so focused on stuffing nationalized health care down the throats of America, no one bothered to see if it would work.
But you haven't even given it a chance yet
...Don't chop it down before it even starts to grow! You should water it a bit and see what happens...
I truly believe that, after Congress steps in and retracts significant portions of the health care bill that cannot work, this entire episode will become a mandatory case study in universities around the world in how NOT to create legislation!
And then we will be back to square one with exploding medical costs with no solution in sight...Universities will be offering classes on what happens when you ignore those issues as a part of it's HISTORY program focused on why America is no longer a superpower....