White House Touts Obamacare 'Successes' Who Aren't

Prior to President Obama’s Rose Garden infomercial, the White House released biographies of the people who surrounded the president during his remarks. They were supposed to be “success stories” — people who have been tangibly helped by Obamacare. But Byron York did the unexpected. He actually read those bios.

[A]fter reading the White House-provided descriptions of each of those behind the president, it’s clear the administration was stretching to present people who, beyond supporting Obamacare, have actually gained from it in any tangible way.

For example, a Pennsylvania man named Malik Hassan was in the group, and this is the White House description of his situation, in full: “Malik Hassan works at a restaurant in Philadelphia. Hassan, who does not receive coverage through his employer, is looking forward to enrolling for health coverage this fall. He recently used Healthcare.gov. to process his application and is waiting for the options for potential plans in Philadelphia.”

So Hassan is employed, not covered, and has not yet succeeded in finding coverage through Obamacare. That is, in the White House’s estimation, an Obamacare success story.

But wait! There’s more!

Then there is another small business owner, Zohre Abolfazli of Tennessee. Here is the White House description of her situation, in its entirety: “Zohre Abolfazli has owned a small business outside of Nashville, Tennessee for almost twenty-five years. Even though she has been able to maintain her health insurance over the years, it has been a challenge to find affordable, comprehensive health insurance in the individual market place. Last night, Abolfazli was able to register through HealthCare.gov and now plans to comparison shop for the best plan that meets her budget and needs.”

So Abolfazli has managed to get onto the Obamacare website, register, and now plans to shop for coverage. Another success story.

The White House’s product endorsement list includes several more weak “success stories.”

At this point, Barack Obama is lucky to be a politician and not a corporate CEO. As president, he is in charge of federal agencies that regulate claims made in product advertisements and that can penalize companies found guilty of lying about their products. If he ran a company that produced such stretched claims in advertising, he could face fines and removal from the company.