President Barack Obama and his administration applauded the fact that roughly 7,040,000 Americans signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act through this Monday. Insurance Business readers, however, greeted the news with a questioning eye.
While we highlighted three of what we feel are the biggest questions surrounding the numbers, our readers had a few more.
Here's a look at four additional questions producers have for the Obama administration.
1. How did these numbers arrive so quickly?
Several IBA readers expressed disbelieving amazement that the 7.04 million figure was so quick in coming, following previous delays in reporting. Reader Dave facetiously observed:
Interesting that the reporting capability has improved so drastically. Prior it took the 60 days to report out numbers and now they are able to report them out in less than 24 hours!! Amazing!
AdvisorGuy was more explicit, commenting:
So let me get this straight...for months after enrollments started, the administration was unable to give us enrollment figures until weeks after the end of a measurement period, but here we sit...on the FIRST OF APRIL...and they can give us an estimate of 7.04m enrollees??? So how come, up until now, the admin was "unable" to provide this kind of real-time reporting, but now, all of a sudden, they can?? Something smells funny here, and by funny, I mean rancid.
2. What is the level of fraud surrounding the signups?
Industry experts warned healthcare shoppers about the possibility of increased fraud in the days leading up to the March 31 deadline. IBA reader Bruce H was especially concerned about the effect on the medical community. He said:
Ask any doctor about the scam(s) going on with medical insurance cards. Sort of like foks showing up with Auto Insurance cards then not paying. Many doctors are providing medical services based on "sign ups" and are not getting paid. We need to shut that fraud down..before it is really out of control.
3. How many qualify for subsidies?
Bob Lake expressed frustration regarding those enrolled in Obamacare plans as a result of the burden to the taxpayer. He commented:
Yes, 7,000,000 and probably 5,000,000 of those are probably registered to Medicare, which means Joe Taxpayer is paying the premium.
Maria in California was more moderate in her estimated, but said:
Millions of people had no choice but to take ACA since they lost their coverage. Ages 55-62 took advantage of the subsidies and especially age 62-64 who are on SS only.
In CA there are probably 50% on Medi-Cal.
4. How many applications are duplicates?
Reader Scott brought up another interesting point. Given the many technical glitches surrounding HealthCare.gov and some of the other state-run exchanges, some applications came through multiple times, which may distort the 7.04 million figure.
Here is his story:
Also, some of my clients have ended up with multiple applications. Some are due to checking different plans and some are from checking off exchange plans then checking on exchange plans. I estimate about 20% of the applications on my site are double. What could that mean to the entire population of 7.04 million applications???
A big thank you to all our readers who commented this week. Enjoy your weekend!
