Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services scheduled another conference call Tuesday afternoon to provide reporters an update on the progress of the HealthCare.gov website.
Sebelius says phrase "Have a happy healthy new year" will have a "whole new meaning"
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) December 31, 2013
The big news, of course, was enrollment numbers. Drum roll, please.
White House count of enrollment under Obamacare:
-2.1M in private coverage
-3.9M in Medicaid
-3M under 26 on parents plans— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) December 31, 2013
HHS call: 3.9 million have enrolled through expansion of Medicaid in ACA.. in addition to 2.1 million enrolled through insurance exchanges.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) December 31, 2013
Sebelius says 2.1 million total have "enrolled" in private health plan via exchanges.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) December 31, 2013
Note the quotation marks around “enrolled.”
HHS clarifies that of 2.1m who enrolled in pvt Obamacare plans to date – about 1m were through federal website/the rest in state exchanges
— Maeve Reston (@MaeveReston) December 31, 2013
So, only 2.1 million have enrolled through the federal and state insurance exchanges combined since October 1. But is that under the administration’s “expanded definition” of enrolled, meaning those who have simply placed a plan in their online shopping cart, or does it mean people who’ve actually purchased health insurance? HHS isn’t saying.
The question that isn't going away anytime soon: How many people have paid for Obamacare plans?
— Brian Hughes (@BrianHughesATL) December 31, 2013
Obama administration still not saying what percentage of people have actually paid for new health plans.
— Brian Hughes (@BrianHughesATL) December 31, 2013
Asked by @JimAcostaCNN how confident they are that the 2.1m plan to pay, HHS offcls say they are confident plans "selected" & know nxt steps
— Maeve Reston (@MaeveReston) December 31, 2013
A sr admin official tells CNN HHS doesn't have means of independently confirming that people pay for covg. That's between them and insurer.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) December 31, 2013
Asked whether CMS was confident most of the 2.1 mln had paid premiums, CMS spox said confident they have selected plan & aware of next steps
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) December 31, 2013
Confident they’re aware of next steps? Does that mean they’re paid up, or just “poised to gain coverage”?
As is her habit, Sebelius drops off of call before Q&A period.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) December 31, 2013
CMS spox says she doesn't have details on what percentage of Obamacare signups have paid for plans.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) December 31, 2013
Govt officials do not have any estimate today on how many people have actually paid for their Obamacare premiums, according to HHS call
— Maeve Reston (@MaeveReston) December 31, 2013
Journalists should stop writing that 2 million enrolled in Obamacare until HHS releases data showing that 2 million have paid.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) December 31, 2013
So, what about all of those individual insurance plans that were canceled due to Obamacare?
HHS says they believe most people whose plans were canceled due to new Obamacare regs have signed up for new plan/enrolled in similar plan
— Maeve Reston (@MaeveReston) December 31, 2013
But we really don't have a firm total on how many people's plans were canceled & how that reconciles with # people who have enrolled + paid
— Maeve Reston (@MaeveReston) December 31, 2013
CMS spox won't provide demographic breakdown of signups, or say how many of them were previously uninsured.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) December 31, 2013
CMS spox says that those who have gained insurance through Obamacare outweighs those who have had plans cancelled.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) December 31, 2013
Really? Really?
https://twitter.com/BecketAdams/status/418107962222075904
We might as well wrap this up.
Final questioner asks CMS spox if failure of http://t.co/cQQ3uorfza was due to sabotage, ends by congratulating her on benefits of Obamacare
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) December 31, 2013
https://twitter.com/BecketAdams/status/418111536528232448
The main takeaway from today’s conference call?
@philipaklein It is hilarious how the goalposts keep being changed to create the absolute minimal sign of success and they still have to lie
— Shadow Banned Joe Friday (@justhefax_mam) December 31, 2013
Join the conversation as a VIP Member