Who counts as an ObamaCare enrollee?

The federal government is expected to announce this week how many Illinoisans and Americans across the country have enrolled in the federal health care program known as ObamaCare. But instead of reporting on actual enrollments, media sources are predicting that the Obama administration will, instead, be reporting on the number of people who have put a health plan in their online shopping cart, but...

The federal government is expected to announce this week how many Illinoisans and Americans across the country have enrolled in the federal health care program known as ObamaCare. But instead of reporting on actual enrollments, media sources are predicting that the Obama administration will, instead, be reporting on the number of people who have put a health plan in their online shopping cart, but haven’t actually checked out.

The distinction is important. As anyone who has ever shopped online knows, putting something in an online shopping cart is not the same thing as actually buying it. According to The Washington Post:

Different definitions of enrollment lead to vastly different estimations of who will gain coverage under the Affordable Care Act. In the District of Columbia, for example, health insurance plans reported signing up five people during the health law’s first month.

But the city’s exchange, DC Health Link, estimates that 321 people in the District have dropped a specific health insurance plan into their shopping cart. Of those, 164 have requested an invoice for their first month’s premium from the insurance carrier.

The Obama administration was aiming to enroll 500,000 – defined as obtaining coverage – during the month of October and 7 million by the end of March.

The Obama administration feels seemingly few constraints in its marketing claims: If you like your health insurance, you can keep it; Enrolling in ObamaCare will be a lot like shopping for flights on Travelocity; and, now, look at how many people have enrolled (or may enroll at some future date) in ObamaCare!

The reality is that Americans aren’t “buying” it.