United Liberty – by Jason Pye During a press conference on Wednesday, one that was supposed to be immigration reform, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) found himself defending the Obama administration’s extension of the Obamacare enrollment deadline.
Reid, whose behavior in recent weeks is odd even for him, told reporters that reason the administration extended the enrollment deadline past March 31 is because Americans don’t know how to use the Internet:
“No, it’s through no fault of the Internet, because people are not educated on how to use the Internet,” Reid said.
Reid referenced a story he heard on the radio, in which a 63-year-old woman in Connecticut was able to sign up for the law in person at one of two locations set up by the state. The woman said she was nearly successful at signing up on healthcare.gov, but the system cut her off at the end.
“We have a lot of people just like this,” Reid said.
Here’s the video via the Washington Free Beacon:
This is as just silly as the time HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that the reason for the disastrous rollout of the federal Obamacare exchange, Healthcare.gov, was because the administration “anticipated at the outset that everyone would never use the website.”
The open enrollment period was supposed to last for six months. Even in a situation where an older person, someone not eligible for Medicare, needed help enrolling in a health plan, they are likely to have received it by now, either by someone helping them navigate Healthcare.gov or calling the toll-free support number available on the website. You know, the phone number President Obama told people to call after the disastrous rollout of the website.
Given that this the Obama administration and Senate Democrats are worried about the age demographics of state risk pools, Reid’s response is more insulting to young people, most of whom are well-versed in the Internet, than anyone else.
This crucial demographic of 18 to 34 year-olds — which made up 25% of enrollments at the end of February, far below the 38% to 40% estimate needed to keep premiums down — is the one the administration and its supporters have been aggressively targeting in recent weeks.