Puny Numbers for ObamaCare Sign-ups

"You will bow down before ObamaCare, I swear it! Both you, and one day, you heirs!!"

A real shocker, I know.

You know if this wasn't so serious, I'd be laughing my butt off watching the Democrats and the MSM spin, duck, hurl blame, and look for cover.

From The National Journal:

Roughly 100,000 people enrolled in health insurance through Obamacare last month – far short of the administration's goal.  

The Health and Human Services Department said 106,185 people have successfully applied for and chosen private insurance through the health care law's new marketplaces. That total is only about 20 percent of the administration's initial enrollment target for October, the first month in which consumers were able to sign up for coverage. 

Officials have long acknowledged they would fall short of that target because of the problems surrounding HealthCare.gov, the problem-plagued website that handles enrollment for 36 states. 

HealthCare.gov has performed even worse than expected. Fewer than 27,000 people selected a plan through the website, compared with roughly 79,000 who picked a plan through the 15 state-based insurance exchanges. Unofficial estimates leaked earlier this week suggested the federal website had done slightly better.

And let's remember that these are numbers are inflated by a method considered fraudulent in the private sector.

Health and Human Services just released numbers on enrollment. The press release states that “Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that 106,185 individuals have selected plans from the Marketplace.” Notice that it says “selected,” not “enrolled.”  

If they were enrolled, that would mean they have qualified and are ready to make payments for a plan that begins January 1st. However, selected can also mean that they have a plan in the “shopping cart” of their Obamacare exchange account. As the report that accompanies the press release notes:

“Individuals Who Have Selected a Marketplace plan” represents the total number of “Individuals Determined Eligible to Enroll in a plan Through the Marketplace” who have selected a plan (with or without the first premium payment having been received directly by the Marketplace or the issuer) during the reference period. This is also known as pre-effectuated enrollment.

But don't worry. Obama will make it all better with useful lies. Or something.