House Speaker John A. Boehner already has said that the Grand Old Party will launch a series of “smart, targeted strikes” against the health care law. And here they come. Like many baffled observers, party officials are eager to see the actual enrollment numbers, the factual revelations that the White House is keeping in house.
The Republican National Committee has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requesting information on the number of Americans who have enrolled in health insurance through the federal website Healthcare.gov.
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The numbers, reason committee Chairman Reince Priebus, will reveal the true, ineffective status of the site.
“Really, it’s telling that they don’t want to give out any numbers. This is an administration that never misses an opportunity to brag. They’ve previously leaked sensitive national security information to burnish their image. So what are they hiding?” Mr. Priebus asks.
“It’s important for Americans to see these numbers because they illustrate just how terrible the system is and how poorly designed the law was. The administration isn’t living up to its promises, and they must be held accountable,” the chairman adds.
Sen. Marco Rubio, meanwhile, plans to file legislation delaying the individual mandate under Obamacare until the Government Accountability Office certifies that the Obamacare exchange website actually works.
“It is not fair that next year Americans will be punished for not buying Obamacare when the website they are supposed to buy it on doesn’t work,” the Florida Republican says.
“The legislation, which will be introduced when the U.S. Senate reconvenes next week, would delay the individual mandate until six months after the GAO certifies the websites and all other sign-up options - phone, mail, fax - are fully functional,” Mr. Rubio explains. “Thereafter, it exempts people from paying the mandate fines if they can prove that they tried to sign up but could not because of technical or customer service issues.”
