Despite several Obama Administration officials’ contention that they do not have figures on the number of first-week Obamacare enrollments, the Daily Mail says two Health and Human Services workers have accessed the data and crunched the figures: in the first week of Obamacare, just 51,000 people completed applications.
Even if all of those individuals meet eligibility standards and decide to purchase insurance, they represent just 0.1049% of America’s 48.6 million uninsured.
Obamacare’s website failures undoubtedly slowed first-week enrollments; 80% of the exchange websites still are not functioning properly. Moreover, the enrollment period lasts another six months. Still, the Daily Mail notes that “if the first week’s total were an indication of how many Americans will sign up during that time through the Obama Administration’s website, its final tally would reach a paltry 1.32 million.”
If the 14 exchanges run by states experience similar enrollment rates, total national enrollment would be roughly two million people, not the seven million the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says the government needs to reach to avert financial collapse.
Lawmakers say that if the Daily Mail was able to obtain accurate first-week enrollment figures, Obama officials have misled the American people and members of Congress.
“The White House and HHS have continually claimed they did not have these figures,” Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) told the Daily Mail. “If they do, they have misled the Congress and the American people.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said the figures prove Obamacare is a failure. “These numbers reflect what we all know: Obamacare is a disaster. It is time for the president to admit Obamacare is not working and that the American people deserve better.”
Beyond just the raw enrollment figures, experts say it is critically important which type of people sign up for Obamacare. The Obama Administration needs millions of young, healthy Americans to enroll to cover the costs of older Americans who will incur higher healthcare costs for the program’s pool.
For now, however, with Obamacare’s $634,320,919 website still not working, it remains unclear who is even able to enroll online. In Iowa, only five people have signed up. In Obama’s home state of Hawaii, zero people have been able to sign up due to tech failures.
A new NBC-Wall Street Journal poll finds that just 38% of Americans think Obamacare is a good idea.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.