When the Obama administration releases its official health care enrollment figures later this week, the numbers will reportedly include those who have purchases a plan, but also people who have a plan sitting in their online shopping cart, the Washington Post reports.
While health insurance companies only count subscribers as "enrolled" after they've provided payment, the Obama administration reportedly sought to generate its own definition of an enrollee.
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 04: US President Barack Obama delivers remarks at an Organizing for Action 'Obamacare Summit' at the St. Regis Hotel on November 4, 2013 in Washington, D.C. Obama spoke on health care and rallied over 200 supporters to get uninsured consumers to purchase a plan through the Affordable Care Act. Pool/Getty Images
An unnamed administration official told the Post that "enrollment" will measure "people who have filled out an application and selected a qualified health plan in the marketplace."
"The administration plans to use this count of enrollees because that's where their interaction with the healthcare.gov site ends, the administration official said," the report adds.
As a result, the numbers from the White House will likely be at least somewhat bigger than the roughly 50,000 private health plan enrollments through Healthcare.gov as reported by the Wall Street Journal on Monday. A Health and Human Services spokeswoman could not confirm the numbers in the report.
Administration officials have been quick to admit that enrollment figures would be low for October due to the seriously botched rollout of Obamacare.
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