HHS used dental plans to increase Obamacare enrollment numbers
House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) said in a press release that the Department of Human Health Services (HHS) used dental plans in order to increase the number of people enrolled in Obamacare, and to cover the fact that the number of enrollees decreased from 8 million in May 2014 to 6.9 million in August 2014.
Issa is quoted in the press release as saying, “Faced with large numbers of Americans running for an exit from Obamacare, instead of offering the public an accurate accounting, the Administration offered numbers that obscured and downplayed the number of dropouts.”
According to Issa, the committee studied the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) enrollment reports and determined that approximately 400,000, out of the 7.3 million enrollees, have dental plans and not the required health insurance plans.
By linking the plans’ identification numbers with CMS’ database records, the committee was able to determine that the plans were dental and not health insurance.
Issa stated that it’s possible that HHS has included more than the approximate 400,000 dental plan enrollees in Obamacare, and that the month-to-month premiums are higher than the low cost, $60 or less plans.
Sylvia Burwell, secretary of Human Health Services, responded in a tweet that the department was not completely up front about the Obamacare enrollment numbers.
“The mistake we made is unacceptable. I will be communicating that clearly throughout the dept,” tweeted Burwell.
The revelations about the Obamacare enrollment numbers come as one of the Obamacare architects, Jonathan Gruber, comes under fire for his “Americans are stupid” comments that he made in a series of videos over a course of four years.
Gruber stated that states that did not include the federal exchanges would not receive tax credits and would therefore pay more than states that included the federal exchanges.
Gruber’s comments added more fuel to the fire for Obamacare critics because it validated concerns that there is a hidden tax included and states would end up paying more than the president had initially stated.
And due to Gruber’s comments, some Republicans are floating the idea to repeat their actions, from last year, of trying to defund Obamacare by shutting down the government.
However, some members of the Republican leadership oppose the plan and Senate Majority Leader elect Mitch McConnell has conceded that Obamacare will be the law as long as President Obama sits in the Oval Office.
Issa is quoted in the press release as saying, “Faced with large numbers of Americans running for an exit from Obamacare, instead of offering the public an accurate accounting, the Administration offered numbers that obscured and downplayed the number of dropouts.”
According to Issa, the committee studied the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) enrollment reports and determined that approximately 400,000, out of the 7.3 million enrollees, have dental plans and not the required health insurance plans.
By linking the plans’ identification numbers with CMS’ database records, the committee was able to determine that the plans were dental and not health insurance.
Issa stated that it’s possible that HHS has included more than the approximate 400,000 dental plan enrollees in Obamacare, and that the month-to-month premiums are higher than the low cost, $60 or less plans.
Sylvia Burwell, secretary of Human Health Services, responded in a tweet that the department was not completely up front about the Obamacare enrollment numbers.
“The mistake we made is unacceptable. I will be communicating that clearly throughout the dept,” tweeted Burwell.
The revelations about the Obamacare enrollment numbers come as one of the Obamacare architects, Jonathan Gruber, comes under fire for his “Americans are stupid” comments that he made in a series of videos over a course of four years.
Gruber stated that states that did not include the federal exchanges would not receive tax credits and would therefore pay more than states that included the federal exchanges.
Gruber’s comments added more fuel to the fire for Obamacare critics because it validated concerns that there is a hidden tax included and states would end up paying more than the president had initially stated.
And due to Gruber’s comments, some Republicans are floating the idea to repeat their actions, from last year, of trying to defund Obamacare by shutting down the government.
However, some members of the Republican leadership oppose the plan and Senate Majority Leader elect Mitch McConnell has conceded that Obamacare will be the law as long as President Obama sits in the Oval Office.
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