In light of the beating the Obama administration is taking over the ignominious launch of the Obamacare insurance marketplaces, it makes sense that the White House would be looking for good news to share. The White House Twitter account attempted to provide a boost on Thursday with the following:
Great news: The number of Oregonians without health insurance dropped 10% in 2 weeks —> http://t.co/Aqf0u3PUfG #ThanksObamacare #GetCovered
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 17, 2013
On the surface, the news sounds promising. But those who click through to the OregonLive article might draw a different conclusion. Here is an excerpt from the story [emphasis added]:
Though the Oregon's health insurance exchange is not yet up and running, the number of uninsured is already dropping thanks to new fast-track enrollment for the Oregon Health Plan.
The low-income, Medicaid-funded program has already signed up 56,000 new people, cutting the state's number of uninsured by 10 percent, according to Oregon Health Authority officials.