Washington (CNN) - It's one data point Obama administration officials have yet to disclose: just how many new Obamacare enrollees have actually paid their premiums.
As the Obama administration released its latest enrollment figures Wednesday, officials broke down some of the demographics on consumers who are signing up for coverage. But White House officials have so far not provided data on how many people have sent in their payments to activate their plans.
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Asked for that information Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney pointed to the insurance companies as the best source for that metric.
"It is a contract between an individual or - well, an individual even representing his or her family - and a private insurance provider. So insurance companies obviously have data about when those payments are made," Carney told reporters at Wednesday's press briefing.
An insurance industry source with knowledge of the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act estimates that anywhere from 10%-25% of people have not paid their premiums, meaning their enrollment was likely canceled.
The industry official said the administration is collecting data on premium payments. "(Insurance) plans have to report (payment data) to HHS because that determines the subsidy payments. The government will not subsidize coverage for someone who never paid and is not actually enrolled," the insurance industry official said.
But a senior administration official told CNN the payment data is not quite ready to be made public. That's because the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services is currently developing an automated system that will eventually track and measure payment data, based on the "834" enrollment forms that are submitted to insurance companies as consumers sign-up for coverage and apply for financial assistance.
"Some health plans, but not all, have begun providing individual effectuated 834 transaction forms, which will eventually be the mechanism for making payment and reporting enrollment data as part of our automated system," the senior official said.
"We anticipate this reporting of effectuated 834 transaction forms to increase over time as CMS' automated functionality comes online," the official added.
Republican critics of the Affordable Care Act maintain the administration's enrollment data is incomplete until it includes payment information to clarify just how many Americans are signing up for coverage.
Last month CNN Money reported the insurance companies were finding varying degrees of success in collecting payments from customers.
Until its automated enrollment and payment tracking system is in place, the Obama administration is collecting some raw payment data based on what insurers and some state-based Marketplaces are submitting to CMS.
"Once our automated payment systems are completed and fully tested, we will determine the most appropriate way to make detailed payment information available," an administration official said.