Washington journal continues. Host our guest is jonathan reporter healthcare for the hill. Thank you for being here. One of your recent articles, the pale,ne is, 20 fail to premiums. What does that mean . Onst you can select a plan there but the final step, you do not have insurance until you actually pay the insurer. What industryout executives are saying is that 20 of people who have selected a plan have not actually pay for it and gone to the final step. When the Obama Administration numbers, 3. 2llment Million People have enrolled, you have got to pay shave about 20 off of that. Host what does that mean for the Obama Administration . They have been touting that number. It will be something democrats will be on the defensive about. Days, cms will have to own up to the fact enrollment numbers are actually lower than what we have been reporting. Right now, it is only about 80 of the 3. 3 million have paid. Possible i have gone to the steps and im done, but i have not made the final steps . Is that a concern . Guest absolutely. A lot of people have been getting it for the first time through obamacare. They have not been through it before. It is not always the consumers fault. We are seeing when healthcare. Gov stumbled out of the gate, the ministration focus on fixing the front end of the website and let the backend, stay in development. A lot of information going to the insurers to notify them of who was signing up, never got there were sent that information so there has been a delay in building some of these consumers. It is not always the consumers fault. Sometimes they are still waiting on a call from the and sit the insurer. How do you know what you are 100 done and have gone through all the steps you need . Class you will get an insurance card in the mail. They are encouraging people to call their insurer to be sure. If you paid your premium, you likely have health care. It is good to call your insurer and double check. Our guest is a healthcare reporter for the hill. If you would like to join the onversation if you are an enrollee for a plan under the Affordable Health care act, you can give us a call. The first call this morning is byron in louisiana and on the line for democrats. The guest there, and all republicans, why are they so andid of the middle class poor people having health care in this country echo what do they have against them . They act so gleeful whenever they can announce something against the Affordable Care act. They realize if it ever goes through, when it goes through, they are finished. Nobody will vote republican ever again. Bye. I would say republicans are walking a fine line right now. Theyre coming up with their own and alternative to obama care that focuses more on freemarket fixes, they would say. Of right, itnd leaves them in a position of, when they are knocking the healthcare law, they have to be very careful lyrically not to callousseem like a argument against obamacare and make it seem a bit actually care that people are Getting Health Care for the first time. I want to take a look at some of the numbers on this. If you break it down by insurance company, as many as 30 of customers failed to pay premiums under the aca. 20 from blue shield, california, and 16 from thesere you hearing from companies about his numbers . Their concern could be worse. Earlier in the process, it was something we were getting estimates that only 50 aid. It could be worse. 80 is not ideal. A lot of their focus right now is on reaching out to the people who have not made their payment. There are other reasons some of these people have not paid. Maybe they will wait until the march 31 deadline to pay. What these Insurance Companies are doing is reaching out because people are really pushing them and letting them know if you want to be covered, you have to make the premium payment. Becky inxt caller is baltimore, maryland, on the line for independents. She has signed up through the aca. Caller hello. I worked very hard for three months to enroll my husband in the aca. It took me three months before somebody could figure out why it was coming out as an error. Toave not even gotten built pay the premium and he is supposed to start on march 1. So i am not sure how he will be enrolled if i have not even gotten gold. Thank you. Christ yes. I think that is a common problem and troubling news for the Obama Administration. Of the primary reasons people have not pay their premiums is that they are not getting their bills from the insurers and that could be because the data from healthcare. Gov has not been transmitted properly to insurers. You are in a boat with a lot of the 20 that have not made their toments area i would say contact your insurer to make sure you have enrolled and ask where your bill is. In a lot of these cases, the insurers are being flexible with how they deal with these. They will backdate your insurance policy, and sometimes they are even sending people their cars before they pay with a bill to say, you can use this as soon as you finish payment. That is one of the main reasons some of these people have not paid. To st. Louis, missouri. On our line for democrats. What has been your experience in rolling . And rolling . Enrolling . Caller half with you january, i gave a credit card number to pay my next ill. This week for my got my first bill. While that was going on, i spent many hours on hold with the insurance company, trying to get a build in trying to make sure i was covered and when i called, they said, yes, youre covered. When a provider called, they said no, we have no record of him. The democratic line and we just heard from independent line. This is troubling stuff or the Obama Administration. All these little anecdotes of people who want healthcare. Gov to work and it has been a difficult experience for a lot of people. Might expect this from the republican line, a lot of people calling up and saying this is not working, but that is troubling. We are starting to hear that. Hopefully, you can iron out the issues. I want to ask you about a recent article you wrote. What does it mean and what problems will it solve . Guest one of the primary criticisms of the Obama Administration during the rollout has been the numbers they are releasing are inflated because they included people that have not pay their premiums. When you try to find out from wem what percentage it is, have been learning this from the Insurance Industry and not the Obama Administration, they say they do not have the ability right now to track who has and has not paid because they pay insurers directly. Part of the backend of the website they are building out right now is an application that will allow them to better track who has and has not paid premiums. We will hopefully get more regular updates about what percentage of people have picked out a plan and have not paid. Right now, it is something in the works and i imagine sometime in spring, probably april or may, that will be and we will have a better idea who has and has not paid but it is one of the things they have not been able to report on. Michigan. Is karen in what was your signup experience like echo class a little rough in the beginning. We got through and are thrilled with our plan. Premiums are cut in half. Asthma is no longer a problem and we are not stuck with our policy. I would like to ask, how much money has been spent by outside opposing the Affordable Care act compared to outside groups promoting it. Thank you. Guest a good question. I do not have exact figures but both sides are spending big on this. The primary issue of the 2040 electioncycle 2014 cycle, so you have outside groups spending millions to make that an issue. On the side of the affordable you have enrollment activists and outside groups their publicamp up relations blitz on this. When the website stumbled out of the gate, it was pointless advertising and supporting the law because you would send people to website that did not work. You will see that ramp up match us in the next month, but also throughout the year before the 2014 elections. Haven,s go to new connecticut. Online for democrats. Good morning. I am sure he has researched all of the information, but the the Obama Health Care act will be a plus for the democrats. In particular, to families who have had problems trying to get health care for family members who have been turned down because of previous illnesses, etc. I can tell you this. View,y point of republicans had better get on the stick and start discussing issues that are meaningful to the American Public out here. Already voted on the health care act, Something Like 48 times. Something that is already lost. They need to talk about, for example, why are milk prices rising . What is there about this product milkmakes the price of continually rising from week to week . Issues that many are not being discussed. May i just say this . I feel sorry for the people in theykraine and the fact are having problems with their government. But i am more concerned about what is happening with our people here in our government and the problems we are having over here. You said you think obama care will be a plus for democrats. That is an optimistic view right now. The law is not terribly popular. It is fairly unpopular. The botched rollout did not help. There is an effort by both sides to highlight anecdotal stories of the law working or not. Republicans highlighting cases where someone lost their insurance and someone who is gravely ill had to change plans because of obamacare, and you have on the democratic side them highlighting stories of people who got coverage for the first time despite resisting conditions. That is a battle that will play out and we will see closer to november who is winning the battle. Right now, i would call it a net negative for democrats. If were talking about the 20 of people who sign up and did not pay when going to the system, water lawmakers saying and how are they responding . Guest on the republican side, you have constant attempts, sending letters to cms or helping human services, demanding the information the Obama Administration already said they cannot supply right now. On the administration side, you have a real effort to get the backend of the system up and running. It is a real liability for them as long as this remains out there. One of the big stories after the march 31 deadline will be how big of a hit these enrollment numbers take when we finally know what percentage of these people actually paid. Administration can close that gap and make it less than 20 , they can say they are making progress. They will already miss their initial enrollment target of march 31. You shave 20 off, it goes down even more. By thes a real push Insurance Industry, who needs and wants to get paid by the consumers, and also the administration to get this up and running. Next up is gael in freehold, new jersey, republican line. Caller good morning. The Affordable Care act has cut off care for seniors. Anybody over 65, especially if you are white, that is what obamas goal was. Because ifwatch out you are white over 65, there is no more medical care for you. I think i would disagree. I think there is still ample medical care. I think one issue republicans will latch onto in 2014 are cuts to the Medicare Advantage program, private medicare. Basically, on friday, the ems announced a decrease payment rate to insurers by two percent. When democrats pass this law, Medicare Advantage had always been a liberal punching bag for a while. They cut 200 billion over 10 years. In part to pay for the for the care act. There are ways republicans are spending that spinning that to say obamacare is hoenig hurting seniors. I think there are still other options available. For pop for some people, they might see premiums go up or fewer services offered. Caller, frank, a democrat in florida. I do not have a problem signing up. I am on medicare. But my wife is signing up right now. Think the gentleman is not giving the government enough credit. Someone asked him how much the people who spent a portion of obamacare do not and he did not know the answer. What i am saying is a deal this , getting up to 30 million americans signing up for health time, itthe first needed everybody to have all hands on deck. To be onhing this big and the poor the republicans do not supportive it at all, give the government credit. At any point in time, even for those who have insurance, more than 25 of the public have not paid premiums. So give them credit. 20 of people not having paid their premiums, it is not good enough for me to join the that has provided all of this for the very first time. Yes, well, i mean, i think the Obama Administration would admit the healthcare. Gov rollout went horribly. There is an argument that republicans have been obstructing the law every chance they get. It,tless attempts to repeal and they have not been on board with helping the law succeed. That is certainly something democrats will be saying. There is some merit there. I do not even think the administration would call up the rollout a success at this point. When the Obama Administration is in the releasing the enrollment numbers, you have to back and say, they will be lower than they already are and they are already behind enrollment goals. It is something that will be a political issue in 2410 something that insurers and the administration both have a stake in improving. I want to ask you a little bit. Something you wrote about this past sunday. I want to listen to a clip and get your response. [video clip] this has not been what anybody had hoped for. With that is the per sonnet and maybe this is not something i want to participate in. Peel that back and show people advantages of health care and why it is much better than using Emergency Rooms of our for aals as primary care lot of people, i think people understand it. It helps them plan their health care. It works. It takes a lot of education. You can watch the entire interview on our website. Your take . Were seeing right now in the runup to the march 31 deadline is a more micro targeted Public Relations blitz by the administration and people who have a stake in the Health Care Law succeeding. Friday, a senior obama adviser did a Conference Call with reporters. Trying to they are coordinate the final push to get members of the black community to sign up for obamacare. There has been fear some of the im the minority groups have in missing the message on signing up because the trends in california right now are that hispanics are lagging in signing up. What you will see is a corrugated push to get minorities, blacks, to sign up in greater numbers. Class how about some of the things the administration will be doing . Celebrities always help. They have nba basketball players on board. Magic johnson trying to get the message out and hoping they connect well with the black community. I think they do. Basically, they are working with these mayors to build an infrastructure. Each of these cities has a different reason about why people in their community are not signing up. Some people in their community are very poor. And too reliant on going to be emerged see room. Anything they pay for will be some sort of sticker shock for them. They have got to do convincing about why having Health Care Insurance is a better option for them than just relying on the emergency room. A question from twitter now, roger green writes, how does the aca helped millions of employed and under employed . Gap inthere is kind of a some of these states that did not expand medicare, kind of a big issue right now. Tople who do not make enough qualify for medicare and do not receive federal subsidies. I do not know what the exact percentage is, that qualify for subsidies, but there is a large amount now. That is one of the it may the main selling point to hear from the Obama Administration now. Check it out because you might get a tax break or a subsidy. Host our guest Jonathan Easley is a Health Care Reporter from the hill. Next up on our line from it andand an acl aca an aca enrollee. Caller i take a bit of an issue. We did not expand medicare. We expanded medicaid. As a reporter, i would suggest you report and keep your personal opinions to yourself. From your use of the word black in a denigrating way, your use of minorities, and your facial when you are humor getting an opinion you do not particularly care for. As far as your 20 , your investigation should focus quite five calls to the insurance carrier to send a bill. Carrier, fivence times, saying, well, we dont have your paperwork. ,e knew the question to ask which was the number we were california covered california. We have that. Now we found that the people in the insurance carriers own room either did not have access to a computer, although they found that number and subsequently sent out a bill. So maybe the 20 failure is not so much the part on the people that signed up or on the federal government in california. It is the state that successfully managed covered california. Host do you mind if i ask you a question about your experience . That, was your family able to enroll . Guest the difference is this. The failure to pay 20 premium on the Affordable Care act, they have already signed up. They cannot have a premium if they have not signed up. If they are getting a subsidy, they cannot have a figure to pay the insurance carrier. Just like under medicare, where you pay a copay or if you have a regular Insurance Program where you pay a copay or an annual fee. Out ofe it comes Social Security automatically. Quite frankly, if you do not get a bill for how much from the insurance carrier, even though the exchange has already told you how much you are going to eligibleay, if you are for the subsidy, or if you make too much money and are not eligible for the s