Obamacare Numbers Lower Than Originally Reported

The Obama administration is admitting it made miscalculations about the number of people who signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell called the latest lapse "unacceptable."

"The mistake we made is unacceptable," Burwell said on Twitter. "I will be communicating that clearly throughout the (department.)"

According to administration spokesman Aaron Albright, the overcount involved about 400,000 people.

He explained that those consumers have separate dental coverage in addition to a medical plan, and were double-counted by mistake. They had purchased both the medical and dental plans through HealthCare.gov and state insurance markets created under the law.

That means the correct number of people enrolled for medical coverage as of Oct. 15 is about 6.7 million, not the 7.1 million that Burwell has been citing.

The discrepancy was uncovered by Republican investigators for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, poring over sign-up spreadsheets.