The government has a funny way of measuring ObamaCare.
We were told that 31 million people are uninsured in America, and they claim to have 8 million signed up. 700,000 have stopped paying for insurance out of the 8 million enrollees announced in April.
“We are encouraged by the number of consumers who paid their premiums and continue to enroll in the marketplace coverage every day through special enrollment periods,” Tavenner said.
Past announcements from the administration included people who hadn’t yet paid for their premiums, leaving Republicans and reporters to wonder how many people were really insured. In the absence of concrete numbers from the government, estimates ranged from 80 percentall the way down to 67 percent, based on a misleading report from the House Energy and Commerce committee. According to today’s data, we’re at 91 percent.
And that’s normal. An April study from Health Affairs found that only about 42 percent of people on the individual market keep their health care plans for a full year — people might decide insurance is unaffordable, but they also might switch to Medicaid, age into Medicare, or get a new job that offers insurance. Tavenner didn’t say how many people have gained insurance in the last few months through the administration’s special enrollment period for new life circumstances like pregnancy or divorce.
That’s a bit misleading when you consider that under ObamaCare insurance is mandatory. So of the 31 million people who should be covered and paying, only 7.3 million (if you believe the Fed) are.
That’s 23 percent, which is far less compliance than the non-forced private-sector solution.
