The government agency charged with implementing Obamacare has no idea whether any of its enrollees have paid their insurance premiums, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday.
"I can’t tell you that because I don’t know that," Sebelius told the House Ways and Means Committee when asked how many enrollees had actually paid.
Sebelius pushed blame to the insurers, saying that the companies only gave HHS "aggregate data" on those enrolled.
Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) asked how many of those enrolled were previously uninsured, to which Sebelius could only say, "I do not know that."
Price cited a report that said only 27% of those enrolled were previously uninsured, much lower than the administration had hoped. The administration has come under heavy criticism for touting the 4.2 million enrollees, with critics saying most of that number are those who lost their previous insurance due to the law.