DC ObamaCare numbers show 5 people signed up for exchange

WASHINGTON – While President Obama continues his cross country pitch on the merits of his landmark health care law, dismal new data shows only five people in the D.C. area have signed up for the Affordable Care Act – or ObamaCare.

The enrollment data from the four health insurance companies participating the D.C. exchange was released Friday by Republicans Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Orrin Hatch of Utah.

“A lot of Americans are getting cancellation notices from their current health care plan but they haven’t been able to enroll in a new plan,” Grassley said in a written statement. “The limbo and uncertainty are stressful for them, as they’ve been describing in emails to my office. The chaos imposed on so many people is reason to at least delay the individual mandate, if not outright appeal it.”

Grassley and Hatch contacted CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Kaiser Permanente, UnitedHealthcare and Aetna. CareFirst reported two enrollees from Oct. 1 through Oct. 30. Kaiser Permanente reported three enrollees from Oct. 1 through Oct. 31. Neither UnitedHealthcare or Aetna had any enrollment data as of Nov. 4 and Oct. 24 respectively.

“With numbers like these, it’s no wonder the Obama administration hasn’t wanted to release how many people have signed up for ObamaCare,” Hatch said. “With data from D.C.’s four participating health plans in, there’s been a whopping five people enrolled in the city’s exchange. That’s right – five. Whether it’s significant problems with the website, people being forced off the coverage they had or skyrocketing costs, these numbers are even more proof of what a disaster ObamaCare is and why it should be delayed.”