DEPENDS.
Obamacare architect Ezekiel Emanuel is out with a new book praising the law, and his predictions for the number of Americans that will enroll far exceed the goals the administration is failing to meet.
The White House goal was to have 7 million people signed up for Obamacare by the upcoming enrollment deadline on March 31.
Emanuel’s book, Reinventing American Health Care, is optimistic that Obamacare will overcome its disastrous beginnings.
According to “Zeke’s Predictions,” despite the problems surrounding the rollout of Obamacare enrollment will be “over 7 million” by April 1.
“Zeke’s Predictions” also see enrollment to be over 30 million by 2016 and over 50 million by 2020, shattering CBO estimates of 22 and 25 million respectively.
The White House has all but given up on reaching that goal, and has recently attempted to remove the goal from being a barometer for the success of the law.
“Initially, we talked about by the end of this period having seven million people lined up,” said Vice President Joe Biden last month. “We may not get to 7 million, we may get to five or six, but that’s a hell of a start.”
One thing that Emanuel got correct was that Obamacare would be changed frequently before his book was published this week.
His book begins with a “disclaimer” stating that “health care is dynamic” and that “changes could alter some of the trends, detailed numbers, and specific predictions discussed throughout the book.”
Since Emanuel stopped writing on Dec. 1, 2013, the law has been amended by the Obama administration numerous times.
Just this week, the administration further delayed the requirement for insurance companies to stop selling plans that don’t meet the law’s more rigorous standards, that canceled the plans of many who were notoriously promised “if they liked their plan, they could keep their plan.”
In his “disclaimer,” Emanuel writes, “health care is rapidly changing” because “policy makers in Washington will craft new policy fixes.”
Emanuel conceded this week that the most recent Obamacare change was part of the “political game” and not based on policy.