How Many People Have Enrolled So Far in Obamacare's Second Open Enrollment?

Undoubtedly I will hear that question many times in the coming weeks.

The answer is that this enrollment process is so screwed up we will have no earthly idea how many new people have enrolled and how many 2014 enrollees remained on the program until at least April 2015.

Let me try to illustrate.

Let's say George is now enrolled in Obamacare. He is happy to have subsidized and guaranteed

Is the Administration Low-Balling Their 2015 Obamacare Enrollment Estimate?

Well, with an estimate of only 9 million to 9.9 million, apparently they are. But I will suggest the focus should not be on anybody's estimate for 2015 but rather on how many people need to enroll in Obamacare to make it sustainable.

A few points:

The Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that when Obamacare launched in 2014, 17.2 million people were eligible for subsidies.
The only place you can

Supreme Court Takes the Obamacare Subsidy Case--Justices Will Rule Before July 1

In a Wow moment, the Supreme Court announced Friday that they will take one of the four pending "Halbig" cases––specifically King v. Burwell.

The issue is over whether the new health law actually authorizes the payment of premium subsidies in the 37 states that will rely upon the federal government to run their exchange in 2015.

This effort is being made on a number of fronts but has been

Obamacare: Death By a Thousand Votes?

We didn't see a Republican tide on election night.

We saw a Republican tsunami.

A year after Obamacare went into effect and Democrats said people would come to support it voters gave one Republican candidate after another, who made Obamacare a big part of each of their campaigns, one victory after another.

So, how will the Republicans use their convincing result on Obamacare?

Republicans will

Health Insurers "Expect at Least 20% Growth" From 2015 Enrollment

That was the lead in a Reuters story this morning saying, "health plans expect at least 20% growth in customers and in some states anticipate more than a doubling in sign-ups" from the 2015 Obamacare open-enrollment.

Well they better do a hell of a lot better than that!

The CBO has estimated that 13 million people will ultimately be covered in the Obamacare insurance exchanges in 2015.

The

Figures Don't Lie But Liars Figure––Will There Be Some Obamacare Rate Shock in 2015?

Hanging around actuaries as long as I have one of the old sayings I picked up was, "Figures don't lie, but liars figure."

I have read one story after another this summer and fall about the modest Obamacare rates increases––or decreases––for 2015.

On this blog you have also seen me write about the complex way the 2015 Obamacare rates will hit people particularly because of the impact the changes

Obamacare is in Hiding Until After the Election

How our government is obstructing facts about your health insurance until after the election.

Read my op-ed in Monday's USA Today