White House Tells Blue Cross/Blue Shield NOT To Share Number Of Obamacare Sign Ups

Remember when we were promised the most transparent presidential administration in history?

The Fargo-Moorhead Forum, a paper in North Dakota is reporting the White House has asked at least one insurance provider not to share the number of people who have signed up for Obamacare insurance.

During a Monday forum in Fargo for people interested in signing up for coverage via the exchange, James Nichol of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota told the crowd his company received the request from the federal government earlier Monday. Nichol is a consumer sales manager for the company.

Still, a spokeswoman from Blue Cross Blue Shield says about 14 North Dakotans have signed up for coverage since the federal exchange went live Oct. 1. That brings total statewide enrollment to 20 – less than one a day.

Spokeswoman Andrea Dinneen said Tuesday that while Blue Cross generally does not release its internal sales numbers, it has in this case because the problematic rollout of the federal health care exchange is a “unique situation.”

Dinneen said she didn’t have any information about the directive that Nichol referenced Monday night.

An official from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, one of the main the federal agencies handling the federal marketplace, would not directly address questions about the request made of Blue Cross Blue Shield, including whether other insurers were also asked to keep quiet about enrollment.

Representatives from the two other North Dakota companies offering coverage on the federal exchange – Medica and Sanford Health – said they had not received similar directions.

It cannot be too much of a stretch to assume the White House request is just another indication of the failure of this program.