By Robert Laurie ——Bio and Archives--January 15, 2014
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The administration says that 135,000 have used the program at some point, but did not say how many were currently in PCIP. An HHS official told The Hill there are less than 30,000 people still enrolled. HHS stopped accepting new applicants early last year over fears the program didn’t have enough money to cover those that had signed up.So, of the "millions of Americans" that the White House kept claiming had been denied traditional coverage, only 135,000 people - at most - ever bothered to use the PCIP. That's only about a third of the administration's 2010 low-end estimate. Back then, we were told to expect 375,000 people. Yet despite managing to achieve such desperately low enrollment, HHS had to cut access to the program because they were afraid it was running out of money? How utterly, perfectly, incompetent. The last time the administration delayed the end of the PCIP, they said it was to give people just a wee bit more time to select a new plan. On December 12, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid spokesman Aaron Albright released a statement saying:
“Today, as part of our efforts to smooth the transition to the Marketplaces for those seeking coverage that begins in January, we are taking steps to ensure that Americans enrolled in the federal PCIP insurance plan will not face a lapse when the new year begins. We are committed to providing consumers additional flexibilities while they evaluate and select a quality, affordable, health plan that meets their needs.”Obviously, since another month has gone by, things have changed. Yesterday HHS spokesperson Joanne Peters released this statement:
“As part of our continuing effort to help smooth consumers’ transition into Marketplace coverage, we are allowing those covered by PCIP additional time to shop for new coverage while they receive the ongoing care and treatment they need.”See? Things are radically different now. At the very least, we're a long way from the days of Jay Carney scolding us that the White House would accept "no more delays."
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