ObamaCare official suggests website played role in inflated numbers

The official under scrutiny for inflated ObamaCare enrollment numbers is suggesting that the error was partly due to the unfinished federal healthcare website.

Marilyn Tavenner, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), wrote in a letter to House Republicans on Thursday that the system had “inadvertently” double-counted nearly 400,000 people. 

That miscount helped push the enrollment total past 7 million, a milestone that was celebrated by the administration at the time.

The final tally for enrollments last year was 6.7 million, officials said Thursday.

In her first public statement about the error, Tavenner repeated a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that “a mistake was made.” She also hinted that still-unbuilt parts of the website played a role.

“Once the automated system for effectuated enrollment is functional, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will be able to more easily report the number who has paid their premiums,” Tavenner wrote in the letter to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which first discovered the error.

CMS spokesman Aaron Albright repeatedly declined to clarify whether the website had caused the error, deferring to the agency’s earlier statements.

The technology behind ObamaCare has been one of the biggest problems with the law’s rollout. Last fall during open enrollment, a nearly dysfunctional HealthCare.gov website morphed into a months-long political mess for the White House.

This year’s open enrollment, which began Saturday, has been largely successful so far, though it has been largely overshadowed by a spate of bad news about ObamaCare unrelated to the exchanges.

Tavenner’s letter also offers another revised enrollment number. The administration had previously said that the count was off by 380,000, but the letter said it was 393,000.

Tavenner was asked Thursday to testify by the House Oversight Committee, which plans to hold a hearing on the discrepancies on Dec. 9.

Caitlin Carroll, spokeswoman for the committee, said Friday that Tavenner has not yet responded to the request to testify.

Tavenner has until Monday to respond to the GOP’s request for testimony. Albright declined to say whether she would appear.

“We look forward to working with the committee on this request,” he said.