When the administration started bragging about the alleged 7 million ACA signups, it was clear that they could barely control their glee. It doesn’t matter that the number is completely devoid of context which would determine the success or failure or ObamaCare. After all, this president’s entire career is built on an admittedly deft combination of PR, propaganda, and optics, so why should his “signature legislation” be held to a different standard? & million sounded good. That’s what was important.

The latest data come from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, whose members—known collectively as “Blues” plans—are participating in the exchanges in almost every state. Roughly 80 to 85 percent of people who selected a Blues plan through the exchanges went on to pay their first month’s premium, a BCBSA spokeswoman said Wednesday.

One of the biggest players in Obamacare’s exchanges says 15 to 20 percent of its new customers aren’t paying their first premium—which means they’re not actually covered.

Unfortunately, as usual, reality is proving to be the sand in this administration’s Vaseline. From the National Journal :

That means close to 20% of ObamaCare’s Blue Cross “enrollees” never actually enrolled in anything. Yes, they’re just one company, but they’re one of the biggest and, as the National Journal points out, their results are in line with everyone else’s. The Blues’ experience is in line with anecdotal estimates from other insurance executives, who indicated earlier in the enrollment process that they received payments from about 80 percent of people who selected their plans.

Assuming that 80% rate holds, ObamaCare’s actual enrollment stands at roughly 5.7 million - not the 7 million being bandied about by the President. On top of that, we still don’t know the young/old ratio or how many enrollees were purchasing new insurance to replace policies that were deemed non-compliant with ObamaCare.

Remind me again, how many polices were cancelled?

Oh yeah. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m pretty sure 6.1 million is more than 5.7 million. Let me check. Yep, it is.