Pressure is mounting on the Obama administration to release enrollment figures tied to the health care law’s insurance markets, which launched Tuesday with much fanfare and web traffic but have been plagued by technical problems.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew declined to discuss any figures during his stints on the Sunday talk shows.
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And administration officials repeatedly demurred on a conference call last week, when reporters asked about early enrollment tallies on the first day of operation.
Some experts are preaching patience, noting a benchmark after just a few days of operation would not provide an adequate picture of how Obamacare will likely perform during its six-month enrollment period.
But critics are goading the administration to be more transparent, with one Texas congressman comparing it to an online company that launched with a high-profile splash in 1998 before fizzling out in just two years.
“Remember how Pets.com bragged about traffic but got really quiet about sales? The folks at HealthCare.gov sure do,” Rep. Steve Stockman, a Republican, said on Twitter.
Rep. Michael C. Burgess, Texas Republican, called on the Obama administration to “start telling the truth” about the online health exchanges to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
“Taxpayers have spent money, a lot of money, to build these sites,” he said in a floor speech. “If they’ve been sold a pig in a poke, they need to know.”
