House GOP Basically Admits Its Obamacare Survey Was Bogus

House Republicans have come as close as they likely will to admitting that their much-touted Obamacare survey was bogus.

An industry source shared with TPM an email sent Thursday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which said it plans to ask for new data from insurers that it hopes will “accurately capture” the number of HealthCare.gov enrollees who have paid their premiums.

The same source described a previous survey from the committee as “incredibly rigged” to reach a conclusion that only 67 percent of enrollees had paid their premiums, by ignoring the fact that the due date for some of those payments was still weeks out from the committee’s deadline.

“After discussions with many of you, the Committee believes that gathering data through May 20, 2014 should accurately capture the number of individuals who have completed their enrollments through (HealthCare.gov) by paying their premium,” the email, sent by a committee staffer, said. It was accompanied by a formal letter from committee leadership.

The implication, of course, is that the committee’s previous survey, which gathered data only through April 15, did not provide an accurate picture.

That was the criticism levied by many against the committee’s initial report.

While the committee had already announced that it planned to collect more information, the email sent Thursday helps explain why: It appears insurers, like TPM’s source, had noted the problem with the GOP’s methodology.

Anonymous GOP staffers expressed the same sentiment when they were asked about the criticisms of their survey by The Daily Beast. When given an opportunity to rebut the critique that it was “rigged,” they didn’t, the Daily Beast reported.