Of The 150 We Enrolled, Only 2 Did Not Have Coverage Before. Of Course None Of Our Enrollees Were Illegal Aliens.

White House Touts Obamacare Numbers, Doesn’t Elaborate

April 2, 2014 by Sam Rolley 

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THINKSTOCK

The Barack Obama Administration spent Tuesday touting Obamacare enrollment numbers of 7 million just after the March 31 deadline and defending Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who has been at the center of the healthcare overhaul’s rocky rollout.

White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters that the he total number of sign-ups had reached 7,041,000 by the midnight (non)deadline, after a “remarkable surge in enrollment.” He said that the number would likely grow once people given an extension were signed up.

Shortly after, Carney told reporters that Sebelius had been “at the front of the line, getting to work” fixing Obamacare and that the President “has had and has confidence in his secretary of Health and Human Services.”

“Those were hard days for a lot of folks who bore the responsibility of making the implementation of the Affordable Care Act a success,” Carney said. “But the response, to a person, was not to point fingers of blame but to roll up their sleeves and get to work fixing the problems.”

Sebelius, who, last year, described her GOP critics as “people I don’t work for,” wasn’t present as the White House announced its enrollment numbers.

“I think you’re obsessing on something that I promise you needs not obsession,” Carney said or reporters who questioned her absence.

And Carney is right. What the reporters should obsess over is how many of the 7 million people the White House claims to have signed up have paid or will pay for their insurance coverage, which is required before they can actually be counted as “enrolled in Obamacare.” It would also be useful to know how many of those who signed up fall into the young and healthy demographic that is key to keeping the President’s healthcare system afloat.

Unfortunately, Carney said he didn’t have any “breakdown data” about payment or demographics on Tuesday. And Sebelius, to whom Carney usually directs questions about Obamacare specifics, was conveniently absent for the White House’s post (non)deadline victory lap.