Let's say you're browsing Amazon. You've set up a username and password, and you're looking at ...oh, I don't know, a set of steak knives. You throw a hundred dollar set of Wustofs in your shopping cart, but before you checkout you think "I don't need knives this expensive. Forget it." You close your browser without purchasing anything and you go on with your day.
Well, according to the Obama administration, congratulations are in order. You just bought a very nice set of steak knives. At least, that's the way it's going to work when they release their Obamacare enrollment numbers.
In an effort to make their dismal Obamacare signup numbers look at least a little less apocalyptic, the Obama administration has altered the definition of what it means to "enroll." According to the Washington Post, you no longer need to have purchased anything in order to qualify as an Obamacare enrollee.
Health insurance plans only count subscribers as enrolled in a health plan once they’ve submitted a payment. That is when the carrier sends out a member card and begins paying doctor bills.
When the Obama administration releases health law enrollment figures later this week, though, it will use a more expansive definition. It will count people who have purchased a plan as well as those who have a plan sitting in their online shopping cart but have not yet paid.
“In the data that will be released this week, ‘enrollment’ will measure people who have filled out an application and selected a qualified health plan in the marketplace,†said an administration official, who requested anonymity to frankly describe the methodology.
When the Obama administration releases health law enrollment figures later this week, though, it will use a more expansive definition. It will count people who have purchased a plan as well as those who have a plan sitting in their online shopping cart but have not yet paid.
“In the data that will be released this week, ‘enrollment’ will measure people who have filled out an application and selected a qualified health plan in the marketplace,†said an administration official, who requested anonymity to frankly describe the methodology.

Really?
Good grief. Well, I suppose they have to try to come up with something so that they don't admit that this has been (and always will be) a monumental failure.
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