Smartertimes community member-participant-watchdog-content co-creator-reader Colin G. writes about this Times article:
"After a surge of last-minute sign-ups, eight million people bought private coverage through the federal and state marketplaces during the initial six-month enrollment period, exceeding the Obama administration's target."
Am I mistaken, or is the number of purchased plans, as defined by people mailing in checks, actually unknown as indicated here?
He's not mistaken. The announced 8 million figure is the number of people who signed up. Plenty of them may have already had other coverage that they were dropped from or that was expiring, so they weren't necessarily previously uninsured. But signing up isn't the same as actually having "bought" the coverage. To buy it, you have to pay for it, and, as the Reason article linked above shows, some significant percentage of the people who signed up are not paying.