One of the highlights of this morning’s hearings was this exchange between Sec. Sebelius and Rep. Lee Terry of Nebraska. Terry first asked if Sebelius would be offering any enrollment numbers. She claimed she did not have the data to release.
Next, Rep. Terry pointed out that contractors who worked on the project have told him “they do have those numbers but can’t tell us that because of a contract with HHS saying that they’re gagged on that information.” Terry then asked Sebelius if she would waive the restriction and allow contractors to release the date they have. Sebelius responded “No, sir.”
If what Sebelius is saying is true, that they do not have the data to release now because of some glitch in the data stream, how can she promise it will be available for release in two weeks?
It seems fairly obvious the administration does not want any numbers out there at all but they are locked in to mid-November. The result is that rather than get the disappointing results behind them, they are prolonging the pain by dragging the story out.
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