Is Obama Cooking the Census Books for Obamacare?

[4-2-7]

A manipulation tactic that the government has been doing over resent years is to change calculations. Indicators are important tool to gauge year over year performance. So the trend now is we will just revise the way we come to our figures to make all look ok.


By Megan McArdle

For several months now, whenever the topic of enrollment in the Affordable Care Act came up, I’ve been saying that it was too soon to tell its ultimate effects. We don’t know how many people have paid for their new insurance policies, or how many of those who bought policies were previously uninsured. For that, I said, we will have to wait for Census Bureau data, which offer the best assessment of the insurance status of the whole population. Other surveys are available, but the samples are smaller, so they’re not as good; the census is the gold standard. Unfortunately, as I invariably noted, these data won’t be available until 2015.

I stand corrected: These data won’t be available at all. Ever.

No, I’m not kidding. I wish I was. The New York Times reports that the Barack Obama administration has changed the survey so that we cannot directly compare the numbers on the uninsured over time.
http://www.bloombergview.com/article...-for-obamacare

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by 4-2-7

A manipulation tactic that the government has been doing over resent years is to change calculations. Indicators are important tool to gauge year over year performance. So the trend now is we will just revise the way we come to our figures to make all look ok.


By Megan McArdle

For several months now, whenever the topic of enrollment in the Affordable Care Act came up, I’ve been saying that it was too soon to tell its ultimate effects. We don’t know how many people have paid for their new insurance policies, or how many of those who bought policies were previously uninsured. For that, I said, we will have to wait for Census Bureau data, which offer the best assessment of the insurance status of the whole population. Other surveys are available, but the samples are smaller, so they’re not as good; the census is the gold standard. Unfortunately, as I invariably noted, these data won’t be available until 2015.

I stand corrected: These data won’t be available at all. Ever.

No, I’m not kidding. I wish I was. The New York Times reports that the Barack Obama administration has changed the survey so that we cannot directly compare the numbers on the uninsured over time.
http://www.bloombergview.com/article...-for-obamacare

New York Times?

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Dondilion

New York Times?

New York Times.

John

[merrylander]

So what is the normal delay in preparing ALL the census data?

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by Boreas

New York Times.

John

Thanks Boreas.

[merrylander]

It was in the WaPo today, so it seems that it is not the census but another survey that is done yearly. Apparently earlier versions onl asked if people had no health insurance in January and were added to yje uninsured for the whole year. They may very well have gotten insurance in March. So now the questiion will be asked on a basis of month by month.

Of course the Repubs never miss a change at seeing conspiracies where none exist.