16 Jan 2014 The Administration is Holding Back Data About the ObamaCare Exchanges the Public Deserves to See, Says National Center for Public Policy Research

H.R. 3362, to Be Voted on Thursday, Would Require the Administration to Release More Data, Faster

“Much of the data probably reflects poorly on the ObamaCare exchanges. It’s time for President Obama to level with the American public and release it,” says National Center’s Dr. David Hogberg

Washington, D.C. – “There are still many things about the ObamaCare exchanges we don’t know because the Obama Administration finds it politically inconvenient to release the data,” says Dr. David Hogberg, health care expert and author of a new National Policy Analysis, “Rep. Lee Terry’s H.R. 3362 Counters Administration’s Refusal to Release Missing ObamaCare Exchanges Data,” published today, arguing that a bill before Congress, H.R. 3362, could force the Administration to release such data.

Dr. Hogberg, senior fellow for health care policy at the National Center For Public Policy Research, is available to offer comments for reporters and radio hosts on the data the Administration is holding back, on H.R. 3362, and other aspects of ObamaCare.

“To date we still don’t know how many people have had trouble signing up for a plan, how many people have actually paid a health insurance premium, or how much difficulty the Administration has had sending the proper information about enrollees to insurance companies,” says Dr. Hogberg.

“Recent history suggests that data reflects poorly on the ObamaCare exchanges and so the Administration won’t release it,” said Dr. Hogberg. “The Administration tries to release only data that’s politically convenient. When the data on the exchanges looks good, the Administration has no problem getting it out quickly.”

On January 16 the House will vote on H.R. 3362, the “Exchange Information Disclosure Act.” Introduced by Representative Lee Terry, it would require the Administration to release data on the number of people who have enrolled and actually paid a premium on their insurance, on the number of “unique visits” to HealthCare.gov, and how much difficulty people have had getting insurance through the exchange websites.

“President Obama should release this data on his own,” said Dr. Hogberg. “But since he won’t, Rep. Terry introduced H.R. 3362. Since it only requires that more data be released, a significant number of House Democrats could vote for it, and then Obama would have a hard time opposing it.”

The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a non-partisan, free-market, independent conservative think-tank. Ninety-four percent of its support comes from individuals, less than four percent from foundations, and less than two percent from corporations. It receives over 350,000 individual contributions a year from over 96,000 active recent contributors.

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