Last week, President Obama announced that 7.1 million Americans had enrolled in the Obamacare exchanges by the March 31^st deadline.  This was portrayed as a major victory for the President but, not for the first time, he is missing the point about his signature health care law. 

For starters, most enrollees already had insurance before Obamacare kicked them off their plan.  While the Administration won’t release an exact number, McKinsey estimates that 73 percent of the Obamacare enrollees already had insurance.  That comes to about 5 million Americans. 

The vast majority of those people liked their health plan.  A Gallup poll released before the sign-up deadline showed that 69 percent of Americans rated their health coverage as either “excellent” or “good.”  But now – thanks to Obamacare – millions of people find themselves enrolled in a costlier, inferior plan.  Another Gallup poll – this one released last month – shows that, among those who have been personally affected by Obamacare, 70 percent said they’ve been “hurt” by the law.  Among all Americans, only 10 percent said they’ve been “helped” by it.  

Furthermore, when you take a closer look at the 7.1 million figure, a few discrepancies stand out: 

• For example, about 1 million enrollees have not paid premiums – an important consideration since insurance won’t cover those who won’t pay.

• The percentage of Americans without health insurance has actually gone up since President Obama took office.  According to Gallup, it was 15.4 percent in early 2009; today, it’s 15.9 percent.

• The percentage of uninsured Americans now covered by Obamacare is barely one-third of what the Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2010.  Four years ago, CBO predicted it would be 37.3 percent.  Now they’re saying it will be 12.5 percent. 

President Obama is fudging the numbers to hide the real problems with Obamacare. We see those problems every day – whether they are the higher premiums for working families, the higher deductibles for individuals, the higher costs for small businesses, the Medicare cuts for seniors or the infringement on our religious and civil liberties, as demonstrated in the Hobby Lobby case. 

While the Administration would prefer to declare victory and go home, I will continue to draw attention to Obamacare’s failures.  I am working hard to repeal the law and replace it with a market-based solution.