Internal notes show paltry initial enrollment in Obamacare
Washington (CNN) - Six people.
That's how many Americans had successfully enrolled in the federal health care exchange by the morning of October 2, according to documents provided to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
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Notes from a "war room" meeting at the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance between administration officials and contractors working on the rollout of HealthCare.gov underscore the beleaguered debut of the online marketplace.
Posted online Thursday by the House committee, the documents indicate that the six enrolled individuals were issued policies from five different insurance companies.
"Healthcare Service Corporation had the two enrollments," the notes recorded.
By the next meeting, held that afternoon, notes showed "approximately 100 enrollments" had taken place since the launch of the federal exchange.
The following morning, the total had increased to 248.
Notes released by the committee's chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, do not include official enrollment statistics and represent an incomplete accounting of the enrollment totals, said Joanne Peters, a Health and Human Services spokeswoman.
Again, the department declined to release the number of Americans who have been able to successfully enroll in the exchange.
"We will release enrollment statistics on a monthly basis after coordinating information from different sources such as paper, online, and call centers, verifying with insurers and collecting data from states," Peters said.
Peters reiterated that a slow start does not mean that the exchange will not boast a healthy roll call by the deadline to enroll.
"We have always anticipated that the pace of enrollment will increase throughout the enrollment period," Peters said.
Citing the quiet pace at which Massachusetts residents registered for that state's health program, the spokeswoman remained confident that enrollment totals would tick up as more people learned about the exchange.
HHS remains focused on providing accurate enrollment totals and cannot yet give those figures because of collection issues.
"We have had more than 20 million visitors to the Marketplace, showing an overwhelming interest in Americans learning more about their options for affordable health care," Peters said.
The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance is part of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
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Worst POTUS ever. Worst administration ever.
My concern was having insurance I can't afford to use. You have a huge deductible that you need to pay down as you visit the doctor, mean while you are still paying for insurance. The people talking about auto insurance are kinda numb, yes if you own a car you should have insurance, not all states require this, but you really should have that insurance. Now how does that apply to living, it is a crime to try to commit suicide, because what your saying is if you don't pay for insurance you should kill yourself, just like you have that option for having a car or not. The whole thing with this insurance was to make it affordable, it is the american affordable health care right? Why have such a huge deductible, and co pay? You can pay for your insurance but you can't use it.
Good grief! What a great idea!
Dean
So I am one of the now insured people with a cheap policy. I have an existing condition and now I have insurance. I have a $2000.00 deductible and a 40% copay. What do I do if I have a $10,000.00 hospital bill? I can't come up with the $2000.00 for the deductible and the 40% on the remaining $8000.00.....A total of $5200.00.
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Maximum annual out-of pocket expenses are as follows:
Out-of-Pocket Max
Bronze $6,350/$12,700 (ind/fam)
Silver $6,350/$12,700 (ind/fam)
Gold $6,350/$12,700 (ind/fam)
Platinum $4,000/$8,000 (ind/fam)
Since you have a pre-existing condition, before the ACA was passed you would have been out of luck. Or, you would have been one of those people who winds up in the ER with no health insurance at the expense of everyone who has health insurance of some kind. Or, you would wind up being covered by Medicare/Medicaid at taxpayer expense.
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Fair is Fair
"Car insurance is not forced on everyone to protect themselves, but to protect the people they might hit. Big difference."
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Indeed. And (in most cases) to protect the bank that holds the car loan.
Don't like it? Don't drive.
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No, it's okay if they drive. Just so long as they don't drive on any public roads. You can drive around your family farm to your heart's content. Ditto for health insurance. Just don't show up at a public hospital. Stay at home on the farm and bring in your own doctor. Did I mention that unless you are very wealthy, that doctors don't make house calls?
People recognize it's a Ponzi scheme just like social security.
Why can I buy car insurance across state line but not health insurance?
Would the government actually have how many people purchased insurance from the *private* companies this quickly?
Wouldn't the private insurance companies be a little reluctant to release those numbers either too quickly, or too often?
Oh noes! People who went to the website early (months before the deadline) did not buy immediately, but instead thought about their options like intelligent consumers? How horrible!
Seriously – health insurance is a big purchase with a lot of important consequences. Anyone who doesn't spend time – days – thinking about it before purchasing it is extremely foolish. The six people who bought on the first day almost certainly had done their homework beforehand; many of the rest probably just wanted to see what was out there and planned on buying a few days or weeks later.
The ACA will destroy America. Obama, Hillary, Reid, Pelosi all got together with a bunch of socialist muslims late at nite to come up with a plan to make healthcare unaffordable for the uninsured since the insurance companies have never raised premiums, changed coverage plans or denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. Not only will Obama be destroyed, but all of his family and friends, co-workers, neighbors will be too. lol
Maybe the EIB Network and its employees should cancel their own group insurance plan and consider the ACA choices. Can you imagine how much they are being charged because their fearless leader, Rush, is such a high risk to medically underwrite. He has already cost their insurance companies hundreds of thousands of dollars due to his obesity, drug addiction and cirrhosis.
should they not say 6 loose sign up! I can still get better coverage on the open market then Oharycare
Let's hope the current plans for tea partiers in Virginia covers mental health (doubt it, though). They'll need it when another one of their heroes bites the dust come Tuesday! (Never mind, the tea partiers are already covered under Medicaid or another evil, government, socialist program.)
There was a shooting at LAX today, CNN. Happened 3 hours ago.
Care to cover it, CNN? Or has the Ticker become "Bash Obamacare Central", CNN?
Grow up, CNN.
That is six more than the HMOs signed up in the same time period!!!
Keep up the good work!!!
Dang, I want to keep my current plan as my carrier has never changed it or upped the premium based on healthcare costs and risk!
They never do anything good for the actual humans that live here. All run by males that hate women anyway. No hope in my lifetime.
How were the 6 dittoheads residing in impoverished red states able to sign up via the website. They couldn't have possibly called in to enroll by phone. They'd lose their place in line waiting to speak to Boss Hogg!
"The only people the Obamacare website helps is people who were paying too much in the first place. I went to the website and it worked no problem, which was the only good news. I have insurance for my husband and daughter independently because getting it through my employer was wayyy too expensive and my husband is self employed. The cheapest plan I found is $100 more a month for less coverage than I have right now. I'm having trouble understanding what they meant when they said 'affordable healthcare'. I don't think the low enrollment numbers have anything to do with an inability to enroll, it has everything to do with a 36,000 a year income not being able to afford a basic plan cost og 300 to 400 a month in insurance premiums and therefore siging out before enrollment. I think people had a different expectation of 'affordable'."
If that's your income and financial situation, you very likely qualify for a subsidy...a good one too. Unfortunately, you failed to mention that or what your subsidy was, whether you applied for one and how it affects your out-of-pocket expense in meeting the premium. All of that suggests you were blabbering a fake anecdote talking point from the GOP/Teatrolls, because anyone actually interested in using this system would have availed themselves of the subsidy (and I guarantee you that if everything else you said is actually true, you're going to be paying less out of pocket).
If they hadn't created infinite loops in their databases, more people would have been able to sign up. They have shot themselves in the foot, and with Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius accidentally on purpose "not having the numbers with her" during the congressional hearings. Somehow I think she was too emabarssed to share the truth so she left a piece of paper on her desk so she could say she didn't know. Of course she knows. So does Jay Carney and Obama. If anyone thinks we believe they just don't know, or that we will buy this anymore they are sadly mistaken. The people in charge need to be let go, they obviously have no project management experience. That includes the politicians in charge.
Obama rose to JFK popularity, then crashed into Nixon territory after it was revealed that simply making good speeches and looking "hip" was not enough to run a nation.
Just another victim of the cult of personality.
If they hadn't created infinite loops in their databases, more people would have been able to sign up. They have shot themselves in the foot, and with Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius accidentally on purpose "not having the numbers with her" during the congressional hearings. Somehow I think she was too embarrassed to share the truth so she left a piece of paper on her desk so she could say she didn't know. Of course she knows. So does Jay Carney and Obama. If anyone thinks we believe they just don't know, or that we will buy this excuse anymore they are sadly mistaken. The people in charge need to be let go, they obviously have no project management experience. That includes the politicians in charge.
Denise, Rush can pay any amount out of pocket, with his own money. NOW with the ACA and insurance being mandated, he'll HAVE to be insured and underwritten and covered. He will actually cost more now than before, where he could cover his own expenses due to being a millionaire.
Me
Anonymous
Dear Tea Nuts: (try to string together more than two thoughts in a row. God is not in charge of everything)
Do you know why car insurance is FORCED on everyone when you do buy a car?
Also, for all the Tea Nuts that keep replying to me that you have a choice of not buying a car.
Well, technically, no one ASKED any human if they wanted to be born and own their own body.
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There is NO law forcing everyone to have Car insurance. I have a car sitting in my garage I don't drive. I have no insurance for it and I'm not REQUIRED to have it. You socialist can't stand the fact that your bleeding heart ideas JUST DON'T WORK!
If I hated cons anymore my head would explode. It's not the president, it's not congress..it is you who are destroying this country. Period.
NO EXCUSES – NO BUDGET NO HOLIDAY VACATION
The President and Congress must pass a budget before they go on any holiday vacation.
They need to do the jobs we elected them to do.
Get it DONE!!!