--- title: White House Counted Dental Plans in Obamacare Enrollment description: Excluding dental plans, the administration did not meet its 7 million sign-up goal canonical: https://time.com/3598098/white-house-obamacare-dental-plans/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-20T19:18:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:36:08.205Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House Counted Dental Plans in Obamacare Enrollment og:description: Excluding dental plans, the administration did not meet its 7 million sign-up goal og:url: https://time.com/3598098/white-house-obamacare-dental-plans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5643a16ed449ce62/69868702adae449bae5421ef/187238630.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Obamacare Expedited Bid Process Limited Who Could Build Website og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House Counted Dental Plans in Obamacare Enrollment twitter:description: Excluding dental plans, the administration did not meet its 7 million sign-up goal twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5643a16ed449ce62/69868702adae449bae5421ef/187238630.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Administration Boosted Obamacare Numbers With Dental Plans ## Video: TIME Explains: The Obamacare Exchange Marketplace [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Explains: The Obamacare Exchange Marketplace](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yQMgX9Nb.m3u8) (0:59)  _Published 2013-10-01. The Obamacare Marketplace Exchange is open for busines. TIME writer Kate Pickert explains what you need to know._  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Nov 20, 2014 7:18 PM UTC  The Healthcare.gov website is displayed on laptop computers arranged for a photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Nov. 4, 2013\. The race to construct an online insurance exchange by Oct. 1 spurred the Obama administration to use an expedited bidding system that limited its choice of a builder to just four companies, including CGI Group Inc. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images The Healthcare.gov website is displayed on laptop computers arranged for a photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Nov. 4, 2013\. The race to construct an online insurance exchange by Oct. 1 spurred the Obama administration to use an expedited bidding system that limited its choice of a builder to just four companies, including CGI Group Inc. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesAndrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Nov 20, 2014 7:18 PM UTC The Obama administration discreetly [included dental plan sign-ups](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-20/obamacare-s-subscriber-rolls-include-unpublicized-dental-plans.html) in its most recent report on the Affordable Care Act’s enrollment numbers. The White House claimed in September that 7.3 million people had enrolled in insurance plans under Obamacare, surpassing President Obama’s 7 million sign-up goal. But investigators from the House Oversight and Government Committee analyzed these enrollments and found that as many as 400,000 of the plans were simply for dental coverage, Bloomberg reports. In earlier reports, the administration had counted dental plans separately. Excluding dental plans, Obamacare enrollment would be around 6.7 million — missing the administration’s stated goal. The Department of Health and Human Services issued a statement Thursday calling the numbers a “mistake”: --- > “” --- U.S. Health and Human Service Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell called the error “unacceptable” > [](https://twitter.com/SecBurwell/status/535511643883839488) Burwell had perviously asserted that the success of Affordable Care Act should be measured by the U.S. uninsured rate, not the Obamacare enrollment numbers, which may fluctuate. The uninsured rate is down about four percentage points to 13.4% over the past year. \[[_Bloomberg_\]](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-20/obamacare-s-subscriber-rolls-include-unpublicized-dental-plans.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3598098/white-house-obamacare-dental-plans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3598098/white-house-obamacare-dental-plans/"},"headline":"Obama Administration Boosted Obamacare Numbers With Dental Plans","datePublished":"2014-11-20T19:18:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:36:08.205Z","description":"Says it was a \"mistake,\" having earlier counted dental plans separately","url":"https://time.com/3598098/white-house-obamacare-dental-plans/","keywords":["Health Care","Obamacare"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5643a16ed449ce62/69868702adae449bae5421ef/187238630.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5643a16ed449ce62/69868702adae449bae5421ef/187238630.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Obamacare Expedited Bid Process Limited Who Could Build Website","caption":"Obamacare Expedited Bid Process Limited Who Could Build Website","creditText":"Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/health-care/","name":"Health Care"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3598098/white-house-obamacare-dental-plans/","name":"Obama Administration Boosted Obamacare Numbers With Dental Plans"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Explains: The Obamacare Exchange Marketplace","description":"The Obamacare Marketplace Exchange is open for busines. 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