106K: ObamaCare Enrollments Fall Way Short

Most of those signed up on state sites; pre-launch prediction was 500K
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 13, 2013 2:46 PM CST
ObamaCare Site's Low First-Month Enrollment: 27K
A familiar message is displayed on the HealthCare.gov website.   (AP Photo/HealthCare.gov)

The White House has been trying to dampen expectations about first-month enrollment in ObamaCare, and here's why: The administration said today that 26,794 people signed up in October via the federal HealthCare.gov website, reports AP. About 80,000 more signed up on state-run exchanges. Prior to the launch of ObamaCare, White House officials predicted about 500,000 would be on board by now—on both the federal and state exchanges—but the final tally came in at 106,185.

That's a decent snapshot of just how badly the federal HealthCare.gov website has performed: It covers people in 36 states, while the 14 states running their own marketplaces managed to about triple its total. The number of enrollees reflects those who have selected a plan, not necessarily paid for it, notes Politico. The federal number is actually lower than what the Wall Street Journal reportedly previously, but at least it's up from the whopping first-day total of ... six. (More ObamaCare stories.)

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