KEVIN DIETSCH/UPI/Newscom
The White House’s definition of “success” may seem a little more than jaded after you read this. During his speech today in the Rose Garden, President Obama stood in front of a group of individuals he claimed represented the “success stories” of Obamacare.
But “success” is relative, as the Washington Examiner’s Byron York discovered today after checking the backgrounds of those standing for Obamacare at the press conference.
“…it’s clear the administration was stretching to present people who, beyond supporting Obamacare, have actually gained from it in any tangible way,” writes York.
After the major failure of healthcare.gov in recent weeks, Obama had to do damage control, but the speech is hardly convincing in light of the facts behind the issue — and even those he chose to represent him.
Nearly every single person who stood behind the President had not yet enrolled in the Obamacare exchanges. York writes:
For example, a Pennsylvania man named Malik Hassan was in the group, and this is the White House description of his situation, in full: “Malik Hassan works at a restaurant in Philadelphia. Hassan, who does not receive coverage through his employer, is looking forward to enrolling for health coverage this fall. He recently used Healthcare.gov. to process his application and is waiting for the options for potential plans in Philadelphia.”
So, Hassan is employed, not covered, and has not yet succeeded in finding coverage through Obamacare. That is, in the White House’s estimation, an Obamacare success story.
He goes on to list example after example, which you can read here.
A hyped-up speech cannot undo the reality of what Obamacare is doing to people all across the nation — or change the optics that this major technical failure has reflected.
In fact, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that the majority of people believe the technical issues with the Obamacare website indicate a broader issue with the law overall.
