If there’s one thing we can count on, it’s that the government can’t be counted on to get anything right.
For months and months, the Obama administration has been telling us how awesome Obamacare is and how much everyone wants it. This morning, the HHS blog trumpeted 3 million “enrollments” since October 1, 2013:
Here's HHS blog post announcing 3 mln sign ups http://t.co/yRNf34XxZB
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) January 24, 2014
Important detail on new numbers: Admin. official tells me they represent sign-ups through Jan 15, so not the whole ball game for this month.
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) January 24, 2014
HHS spox just confirmed to me that the 3 mln number is through Jan. 15, as tweeted earlier by @sarahkliff
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) January 24, 2014
So, per HHS, about 800K signed up for insurance from 12/28 through 1/15. Originally, they were expecting 1mln for all of January.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) January 24, 2014
But obviously, we still don't know how many people paid.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) January 24, 2014
And we may never know as long as the White House insists on using a bogus definition of “enrollment.” But brace yourselves — this gets even stupider. That January 15 date HHS gave? Apparently, it was wrong:
WFT? Got an email from HHS a few mins ago saying 1/15 RT @samsteinhp: HHS clarifies. 3m figure is "as of this week" it is NOT as of Jan 15
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) January 24, 2014
Sorry guys – admin. official I talked to initially misspoke, says that data represents first three weeks of January *not* through the 15th.
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) January 24, 2014
HHS spox now emails: "It is through this week. Sorry for the confusion."
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) January 24, 2014
“Sorry for the confusion”? HHS can’t even figure out when all these supposed “enrollments” actually took place.
HHS spox says "We hit 3m this week, don’t have an exact date"
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) January 24, 2014
This goes beyond confusion; this is flat-out incompetence.
@philipaklein that's…kind of a big difference, right?
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 24, 2014
There’s also a big difference between the actual number of “enrollments” and the goal HHS initially set:
Goal = 7m. Two months (& change) to go. RT @philipaklein: HHS spox says "We hit 3m this week, don’t have an exact date"
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 24, 2014
https://twitter.com/seanagnew/status/426761177457524736
@philipaklein when will we know how many have actually paid? Is there a date set for that announcement?
— John-David Haire (@johndavidhaire) January 24, 2014
Fat chance.
@philipaklein Confusion? From HHS? Be still my heart.
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) January 24, 2014
@guypbenson @philipaklein I call BS on those numbers
— Dave (@DesertLover46) January 24, 2014
Maybe it’s time for HHS to get a name change:
The Department of Health and Human Error https://t.co/tzNC72rvlQhttps://t.co/Fjmj6FnB5h
— John Tabin (@johntabin) January 24, 2014
Sounds about right.
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