Obamacare hasn't covered 16.4 million people in the past five years, the Obama administration
now says. It's covered 17.6 million, beating expectations and Congressional Budget Office projections.
The revised total includes 15.3 million people who gained coverage through the individual marketplace or through Medicaid. It also includes 2.3 million young adults who gained coverage because they were able to remain on a parent’s plan until they turn 26.
The new data also puts the Obama administration ahead of the health insurance gains estimated by the Congressional Budget Office for 2015. The CBO had predicted roughly 17 million people would gain coverage by 2015, with the gains about equally split between the exchanges and Medicaid.
Health and Human Services (HHS) chief Sylvia Mathews Burwell announced the new figure Tuesday during a speech at Howard University Hospital, where she also highlighted the law's impact on black and Hispanic populations.
"This progress has been even bigger for people of color," she said, pointing to the 10 percent drop in the uninsured rate among black Americans.
No wonder Republicans have had to
find a new obsession. Even they have to recognize that the number one goal of the law—expanding the number of people with insurance—has been achieved. There will still be fights in the courts, there will still be repeal votes and attacks on bits and pieces of the law, but the core of it is here to stay.