The latest projection from brainwrap is 6.72 million by tomorrow, unless he updated it again while I wasn't looking. It has been creeping upward all week, as the final rush accelerated and the lines for in-person help got ever longer.
You can follow the #hashtag brainwrap and the White House are using on Twitter: #ACASurge. Check out the pics brainwrap posted there and in Apple Store Opening or #ACASurge? You be the judge. Actually the pics he used were from an Apple product launch, but the question still stands. Can you tell which are for ACA signups? Here is the White House version on its own Web site.
Photos: This is What an #ACASurge Looks Like
Las Vegas NV
We don't know how many more will start applications by tomorrow and finish in the two week extension up to April 15 (or later in a few states), in exchanges that permit it. We do know that we won't have the final numbers from the extension until late April or May.
Kossack JoanMar Diaried about a Republican who has announced his support for Obamacare, starting with a letter to the President that got picked for a personal call from the President, asking if it would be OK to put his tale in a commercial. He said yes. More below.
And, of course, we have your regular updates on the numbers of the day.
We think that after all of the handwringing and obstruction we are going to make the original CBO estimate of 7 million easily during the two week extension to April 15 (in most states), and then go on signing up people who have qualifying events (birth, death, marriage, divorce, losing a job with coverage, having a policy canceled, moving to a different state…all the way to the elections and the start of the next Open Enrollment period.
Republicans are already complaining that President Obama cheated, that giving people an extra two weeks to complete applications started before the deadline is illegal and Tyranny!!! and so on. Never mind that the original CBO estimate of 7 million people getting insurance through the exchanges was for the entire calendar year, not just the Open Enrollment period. When you are cherry-picking numbers, what does context matter?
The White House Web site is collecting "Obamacare saved my life" (or at least my wallet and my sanity) stories to share on social media. Some are being made into ads for Obamacare or for the midterms, including the story of a Republican, retired psychologist Mark D. Bearden. He posted this on his Facebook page.
I know this might not be popular with friends and family but I am having the most incredible time of my life right now. Months ago I wrote President Obama letting him know I am a staunch Republican, never voted for him, lost my insurance because of Obamacare. I went through the nightmare signing up for the healthcare plan.
But I finally got through and got incredible insurance an incredible price. Though not a fan of him, I am so happy with the Affordable Care Act. It works. Last night while at work my phone rang with an "unavailable" listing. I usually do not answer those calls but I did. My heart dropped to my stomach. It was President Barack Obama. My letter was chosen as one of the ten letters he responds to every day. He asked if he could use my letter in the healthcare.gov website and a television commercial. [emphasis added] Of course I agreed.
Got an email from the Executive to the President today asking if she could call me tonight to go over details of the letter so she can forward a final draft to the President. Awaiting the call.
Whether you like or hate the President, you have to realize you are talking to the most powerful person on the planet. I still do not care for him but do and will support his healthcare plan as it worked for me.
The White House has an open letter to the public from Bearden:
"I'm a Republican, and You Should Get Covered"
I am a staunch Republican, a self-proclaimed Fox News addict, and I didn't vote for the President. And I'm here to tell you that Obamacare works. I'm living proof.
I'm a chemotherapy patient, and was previously paying $428 a month for my health coverage. I was not thrilled when it was cancelled.
Then I submitted an application at HealthCare.gov. I looked at my options. And I signed up for a plan for $62 a month.
It's the best health care I have ever had.
You have to read it all. Really. Then you can send the link to any Republican friends and family who might try to give you grief, and post it on
their Facebook pages.
The Latest Numbers
Washington State: Assorted data points showing the impact of the ACA so far
Apple Store Opening or #ACASurge? You be the judge.
…today the White House Blog posted this entry:
The line started forming at 5 a.m. in front of an enrollment center in Miami -- where trained workers have signed up 25,000 of their fellow Floridians since November. It was standing-room-only at a center in Houston yesterday.
The final deadline to get covered in 2014 is in just two days, and Americans are literally lining up at grassroots events across the country to make sure they're covered.
This is what momentum looks like.
Maryland: QHPs up 4,200 in 4 days
Nevada: QHPs up 1K since 3/22; Xerox thinks they'll complete 57K during extension
Maryland abandoning their exchange, replacing it with Connecticut's
South Carolina: QHPs up to 76K
I reported this item yesterday, but I like it so much I am repeating it.
California: Suggestions of even larger numbers?
An additional 150,000 households created an online account and started the shopping process in the last three days, officials said.
That's 50,000 households--not individuals--PER DAY who JUST created an account for 3 days straight.
I think this final weekend surge is going to be MUCH larger than even I've been projecting.