Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY 5:08 p.m. EST November 13, 2013
President Obama(Photo: Chip Somodevilla Getty Images)
[h=3]Story Highlights[/h]
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WASHINGTON — The White House set low expectations for early Obamacare enrollment numbers, but the cold hard data offers perhaps the grimmest picture yet of what President Obama faces as he tries to breathe life into his troubled health care law.
Even before the numbers were released on Wednesday, the White House all but said they would be terrible, and not only because of the problems with the federal online health exchange — which only accounted for 26,000 of the 106,000 enrollees in October.
At the end of October, Obama traveled to Boston and noted that only 123 Massachusetts residents signed up under former Gov. Mitt Romney's statewide health care law in the first month of the law's implementation. Human nature suggests that people won't make a final decision on coverage until they absolutely have to, he argued.
Aides and surrogates pointed to similar technological difficulties former President George W. Bush's administration had with introduction of Medicare Part D, which has become a popular program. And they harrumphed at Republicans for rooting for the law's failure and increasingly focused attention on Republican governors, like Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal — opponents of the law who have refused to expand Medicaid benefits in their states.
But whether the White House take is spin or fact, or both, the enrollment figures are simply bleak and will offer Republicans yet another opportunity to take aim at the law and push jittery Democrats to insist on a legislative fix that could lead to the law's doom.
Rep. Dave Camp, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, was quick to note that the administration would need to enroll 68,000 people per day to meet Health and Human Services Department's year-end goals — which seems to be an extraordinarily ambitious benchmark.
The October data shows that HHS only reached a fraction of the 494,000 target it had set, according to a September memo from Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
"With the little data we have so far, I fear we could see a fundamental breakdown of the insurance market with coverage gaps and premiums skyrocketing -– pricing millions of Americans out of health care, yet still forced to pay the individual mandate tax," Camp said.
For Obama, the data may also add to the toll the troubled roll-out is taking on his personal popularity.
Obama has been battered by Republicans for the millions of Americans who are losing their current health insurance plans as a result of the Affordable Care Act, despite his oft-repeated assurances that Americans could keep their insurance plans if they like them.
Last week, Obama apologized for his "if you like your insurance, you can keep it" remarks. And for the first time, a Quinnipiac University Poll published on Tuesday showed that, by a 52%-to-42% margin, Americans believe that Obama is not honest and trustworthy. His previous lowest marks on honesty were May 30, when 49% of voters said he was honest and 47% said he wasn't.
The enrollment data, coupled with Obama's declining popularity, also has the potential of growing the fraternity of uneasy Democrats who are up for reelection in 2014 — a group that includes Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Kay Hagan of North Carolina.
The trio are among those pushing for a legislative fix that would allow Americans on the individual insurance market who are getting cancellation notices to keep their coverage.
Such a move could prove to be the most serious threat to Obamacare, potentially creating a situation where sick people purchase health insurance policies that comply with the ACA, while healthy people who are on the individual insurance market can insist on staying on policies that are cheaper but don't comply with the law.
Obama was already on shaky ground in his defense of his health care law. The enrollment numbers only make his difficult situation more untenable.
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President Obama(Photo: Chip Somodevilla Getty Images)
[h=3]Story Highlights[/h]
- Administration tried to lower expectations in advance, said numbers would be paltry.
- Federal exchange accounted for only 26,000 enrollees in October.
- Affordable Care Act mess is taking a toll on Americans' trust of the president.
SHARE 6 CONNECT EMAILMORE
WASHINGTON — The White House set low expectations for early Obamacare enrollment numbers, but the cold hard data offers perhaps the grimmest picture yet of what President Obama faces as he tries to breathe life into his troubled health care law.
Even before the numbers were released on Wednesday, the White House all but said they would be terrible, and not only because of the problems with the federal online health exchange — which only accounted for 26,000 of the 106,000 enrollees in October.
At the end of October, Obama traveled to Boston and noted that only 123 Massachusetts residents signed up under former Gov. Mitt Romney's statewide health care law in the first month of the law's implementation. Human nature suggests that people won't make a final decision on coverage until they absolutely have to, he argued.
Aides and surrogates pointed to similar technological difficulties former President George W. Bush's administration had with introduction of Medicare Part D, which has become a popular program. And they harrumphed at Republicans for rooting for the law's failure and increasingly focused attention on Republican governors, like Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal — opponents of the law who have refused to expand Medicaid benefits in their states.
But whether the White House take is spin or fact, or both, the enrollment figures are simply bleak and will offer Republicans yet another opportunity to take aim at the law and push jittery Democrats to insist on a legislative fix that could lead to the law's doom.
Rep. Dave Camp, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, was quick to note that the administration would need to enroll 68,000 people per day to meet Health and Human Services Department's year-end goals — which seems to be an extraordinarily ambitious benchmark.
The October data shows that HHS only reached a fraction of the 494,000 target it had set, according to a September memo from Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
"With the little data we have so far, I fear we could see a fundamental breakdown of the insurance market with coverage gaps and premiums skyrocketing -– pricing millions of Americans out of health care, yet still forced to pay the individual mandate tax," Camp said.
For Obama, the data may also add to the toll the troubled roll-out is taking on his personal popularity.
Obama has been battered by Republicans for the millions of Americans who are losing their current health insurance plans as a result of the Affordable Care Act, despite his oft-repeated assurances that Americans could keep their insurance plans if they like them.
Last week, Obama apologized for his "if you like your insurance, you can keep it" remarks. And for the first time, a Quinnipiac University Poll published on Tuesday showed that, by a 52%-to-42% margin, Americans believe that Obama is not honest and trustworthy. His previous lowest marks on honesty were May 30, when 49% of voters said he was honest and 47% said he wasn't.
The enrollment data, coupled with Obama's declining popularity, also has the potential of growing the fraternity of uneasy Democrats who are up for reelection in 2014 — a group that includes Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Kay Hagan of North Carolina.
The trio are among those pushing for a legislative fix that would allow Americans on the individual insurance market who are getting cancellation notices to keep their coverage.
Such a move could prove to be the most serious threat to Obamacare, potentially creating a situation where sick people purchase health insurance policies that comply with the ACA, while healthy people who are on the individual insurance market can insist on staying on policies that are cheaper but don't comply with the law.
Obama was already on shaky ground in his defense of his health care law. The enrollment numbers only make his difficult situation more untenable.
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