The White House announced Monday that President Obama enrolled in Obamacare’s health insurance exchange over the weekend, contradicting an earlier report that the president would do so sometime during the day on Monday.
The president signed up for a ‘bronze’ plan via the Washington, D.C. exchange, according to a White House statement, but the action was described as “symbolic” and more a show of support from the president for his signature law than a substantive decision to obtain health coverage. The president will continue to receive health care through the military, the White House said.
Additionally, Obama did not sign himself up through Healthcare.gov or the D.C. exchange’s website — instead, aides signed him up in-person because of the “complicated nature of the president’s case,” the White House said, which includes the accessibility of his personal information on government databases used by the website.
TIME’s Zeke Miller found that a bronze plan would cost the president between roughly $264 and $367 per month, making this a pricey gesture.
Earlier Monday, April Ryan of the American Urban Radio Networks tweeted that White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett said the president would enroll sometime today.
Just off phone w/Valerie Jarrett @vj44 POTUS will sign up for for Health Insurance on the Market place by the end of today 2 lead by example
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) December 23, 2013
Monday marks the deadline for Americans to sign up and receive coverage under Obamacare effective the first of the year, though the Washington Post reported that administration officials secretively extended the deadline by one day to Christmas Eve.
The White House had been dodgy about the president’s plans to obtain health insurance under his law. A spokesman said in 2010 that the president would “participate in the exchange,” and Press Secretary Jay Carney said a few weeks ago that the president still had designs on signing up — but there was no update as far as timing.
(h/t Jim Hoft, Washington Post)
This piece has been updated to reflect new information.
