ST. PAUL, Minn. -- After more than a week in action, is a key feature of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul a success or a bust? Judging by the dearth of data, it's virtually impossible to say. <\/p>\n
The federal government has released no comprehensive data on how many people have enrolled for health insurance using federally run exchanges, the online marketplaces being used in 36 states for residents to compare and buy insurance. In the 14 states running their own exchanges, the situation isn't much better. <\/p>\n
Officials with California's exchange say it will be mid-November until they can say how many people signed up. In Oregon and Colorado, the official number of completed applications is zero. And in Minnesota, which billed itself as a leader in implementing the Affordable Care Act, officials won't release data until next week about the number of applications started and completed. <\/p>\n
As a result, a nation obsessed with keeping score to determine winners and losers is finding it difficult to pass immediate judgment on a law that will in large part define the president's legacy. <\/p>\n
\"Obamacare has a lot of cynics in this country, and it needs to get off to a better start than what we see so far if it's going to be a success,\" said Bob Laszewski, a Washington, D.C.-based health care industry consultant. <\/p>\n
Laszewski suspects the lack of data conceals an extremely slow start thanks to widely reported technical problems. <\/p>\n
MNsure, Minnesota's online insurance marketplace, reported more than 10,000 accounts had been initiated as of Thursday, said April Todd-Malmlov, the exchange's director. But enrollment figures won't be available until Wednesday. She said some users inadvertently submitted multiple applications that need to be consolidated. <\/p>\n
Similar problems abound. Many states running their own exchanges haven't released initial enrollment data, and only a handful are providing a detailed picture of applicants and the plans they are choosing. <\/p>\n
Oregon, another state that embraced the law, hasn't even opened enrollment because its software can't determine eligibility for Medicaid or for tax credits that help pay for insurance. Vermont's system is so buggy that officials are issuing paper applications, even though the thinly populated state received $171 million - among the largest amounts in federal grants - to run its exchange and upgrade technology. <\/p>\n
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is overseeing the federally run exchanges, doesn't expect to release enrollment data until mid-November. But scattered reports from those states aren't encouraging. For example, Delaware had yet to confirm a single enrollment by Thursday, and many Florida groups designated to help people sign up say they still can't complete the enrollment process online. <\/p>\n
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The rest is here: <\/p>\n
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