Obamacare Website: Fewer Than 50,000 Have Enrolled
Insiders reveal a figure that, if accurate, falls radically short of expectations
Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has told Congress that full enrollment figures for HealthCare.gov will be released this week
Fewer than 50,000 people have successfully enrolled for private health insurance using the federal government’s health care website, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the data on Monday.
Health officials had told Congress the initial enrollment tally for HealthCare.gov would be low, but the numbers fall far short of the 500,000 that the Administration had set as a target for the site’s first month.
An estimated 7 million Americans were expected to gain private health coverage by the end of March, when the open-enrollment period is due to end. But many users have been unable to complete insurance applications because of technology problems and design flaws since the troubled site was launched on Oct. 1.
According to the Journal, a spokesperson for the federal health agency declined on Monday to confirm the enrollment figures, which cover 36 states. Official data on enrollment for all 50 states is expected to be released later this week.
[WSJ]
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http://nation.time.com/2013/11/12/obamacare-website-less-than-50000-have-enrolled/