White House press secretary Jay Carney attempted to cast doubt on a House Energy and Commerce Committee report showing only 67 percent of Obamacare enrollees have paid their premiums Thursday in the White House press conference. Carney called the report overly selective and unlikely to be representative of the entire insurance market.
However when asked if he had a sense of how many people will ultimately pay their premiums, Carney admitted he did not know but doubted the 67 percent figure because of anecdotal figures he has seen out of the insurance industry. "I'm not a numbers cruncher," he said.
"What I can say is that we have seen from the anecdotal reports from issuers that the percentages of those paying their premiums are in the 80 to 90 percent range, but we will wait until we have an accurate picture of it and provide that data when we have it."
Rep. Tim Murphy (R., Pa.) told CNBC's Rick Santelli earlier today in addition to only 67 percent of people paying their premiums, the committee found demographics among enrollees appears skewed towards the elderly. "Most of the people who have signed up are actually over age 50. And less than 25 percent or so are 18-35. The administration has said you need about 40 percent of the signups to be in that younger category […] to make this plan sustainable."