With all the problems with the healthcare.gov website, the “technological glitches,” the “tech surge,” and even an apology from the President, Obamacare’s supporters and detractors await solid, verifiable numbers on how many Americans are actually signed up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Over a dozen states have successfully set up their own health care exchanges. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), despite the website problems, is still actually signing up some people for insurance coverage, most of that done manually. HHS officials have yet to announce official numbers from the federally-run and state-run exchanges. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius did warn congressional committees before which she testified that the numbers would not be what is desired. California, the state with the largest exchange and expected to have the largest number of enrollees, has yet to release its enrollment data. Critics suspect that this is due to the machinations of the Obama Administration. White House officials say that they want to ensure that the data is true and verifiable and that is difficult working with over a dozen different systems. On Friday, HHS will close the application period for its latest round awards to help states build, maintain, and expand their insurance exchanges.
Comments