White House: No idea how many people have paid ObamaCare premiums

By Bob Beauprez

Sunday, January 19, 2014

The White House has no idea how many people have paid their ObamaCare insurance premiums. That means the number of enrollees that the White House is touting are absolutely meaningless.

These people couldn't run a lemonade stand. They sure shouldn't be running our health care system.

During an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on January 17, a somewhat stunned Congressman Greg Harper (R-Mississippi) asked, "We don't know at this point how many people have actually paid for coverage?"

"That's right," replied Gary Cohen, the director of Medicare's Center for Consumer Information Insurance Oversight.

Cohen went on to explain that "functionality" hasn't even been built yet in the ObamaCare system, nor could he give a date when it was expected to be done.

Two months ago, Henry Chao, the deputy chief information officer for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services revealed to the Congress that 30-40 percent of the ObamaCare system "still needs to be built" including the payments and accounting system. Even for government work, it tests the imagination to understand how the Obama Administration still has no idea when the financial support systems will be built and operational.

But, instead of addressing the bureaucratic incompetence, the White House tries to cover it up with more lies and half-truths.

"Six million Americans have gotten covered. Have you?" was tweeted out on January 10 by the @BarackObama account managed by the President's spin-machine, Organizing for America. But, Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post's "Fact Checker" blasted the White House writing, "This number tells you almost nothing … Reporters need to stop using it." Three more Pinocchios for the White House from Kessler.