Of course we already knew this is the reason the White House flatly refuses to gives us the data on the actual number of enrollees as opposed to the BS number they release about people who have chosen a plan.

Via WSJ:

Millions of new insurance policies purchased under the federal health-care law officially take effect on Wednesday, but many enrollees won’t be able to use them to visit doctors or get prescriptions filled for days or weeks, insurers say.

Because problems with the online marketplaces forced the government to extend deadlines for enrollment to Christmas Eve, insurers are hustling now to complete those enrollments, to process payments and to issue membership cards. They say they won’t be able to reach everyone by Jan. 1.

Normally, insurers require payment for coverage before the coverage begins. They count an enrollment as complete only when the first month’s premium has been received from a customer. As of Monday, however, only about half of enrollees billed for plans offered by more than 100 insurers in 17 states had paid their first month’s premium, said Mark Waterstraat, chief strategy officer at Benaissance, a third-party billing firm that works for those insurers.

HT: Hot Air