Beltway Confidential

Here’s how paying for an Obamacare plan is supposed to work

By Philip Klein

Published November 22, 2013 5:00am ET

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Here’s how paying for an Obamacare plan is supposed to work — On Tuesday, Henry Chao, the deputy chief information officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, raised eyebrows when he testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee that the payment system for the federal health insurance exchange hadn't yet been built. (Photo: Graeme Jennings/Washington Examiner) | Graeme Jennings

On Nov. 13, when the Department of Health and Human Services announced that 106,185 Americans had signed up in plans through President Obama’s health care program, officials used a novel definition of “enrollment.”

Though insurers traditionally haven’t counted individuals as enrolled until they’ve paid their first month’s premiums, the HHS report declared, “Enrollment figures include those who have selected a plan and have or have not yet paid the first month’s premium.”

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Affordable Care Act Department of Health and Human Services Philip Klein