Although President Obama claimed victory on Tuesday due to the 7.1 million people who have signed up on federal or state exchanges for his health care law, the Affordable Care Act has been anything but ‘affordable.’
Not only is that 7.1 million figure skewed due to the fact that it is still unknown how many people have actually paid for their plans and how many were previously uninsured, but it has also cost federal taxpayers billions.
As ATR noted in November, the Obama Administration spent $4.5 billion of federal taxpayer dollars on building state exchange websites. According to new research from CNBC, the Federal Government spent an average of $6,894.05 for each state exchange enrollee.
Furthermore, of the states receiving federal funding, four states and the District of Columbia have disproportionately high cost per enrollee:
| STATE | TOTAL ENROLLMENT | FEDERAL FUNDING | COST PER ENROLLEE |
| Hawaii | 5,744 | $205,342,270 | $35,749.00 |
| D.C. | 6,516 | $133,573,927 | $20,499.37 |
| Vermont | 24,326 | $168,124,081 | $6,911.29 |
| Massachusetts | 26,356 | $180,067,775 | $6,832.14 |
| Oregon | 50,137 | $303,001,587 | $6,043.67 |
| Source: State Obamacare exchanges, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Pew Charitable Trusts | |||
ATR compiled statistics last month that highlighted the high cost to federal taxpayers to fund faulty state exchange websites. Not surprisingly, the states that received the most federal funding are the states with the highest cost per enrollee.
At the top of the list is the Hawaii Health Connector, which has received $205,342,270 in federal funding, only to insure 5,744 people, or $35,749 per enrollee.
According to American Commitment President Phil Kerpen, “just obscene amounts of money have disappeared into these state exchanges for very little actual performance.”
Just because ‘7.1 million people’ now have health insurance, it is far too early for the administration to claim Obamacare as a victory. It is still uncertain how many people have paid for plans, and with the rising cost of healthcare, it is unknown how people will continue to pay for their plans.