Report: 4 ObamaCare sign-ups in Delaware

Delaware has seen only a handful enrollments in its new ObamaCare insurance exchange, which is served by HealthCare.gov, according to an informal survey of community groups.

The Associated Press reported that four patients had signed up for coverage as of Wednesday. The figure came from conversations with organizations hired to provide guidance within the marketplaces.

{mosads}Officials blamed the low enrollment figures on problems with the federal enrollment website and delays in background checks for outreach workers, according to the AP.

Another 218 people reportedly created accounts that could help them purchase health plans in the future, while 31 completed applications without yet buying a healthcare plan.

The low numbers come as federal health officials struggle to fix the broken enrollment site serving marketplaces in 36 states.

The administration plans to release enrollment data for the first time next week, and is working now to lower expectations about what the figures will show.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told lawmakers Wednesday that she expects the numbers to be “quite low.”

“I’m hoping that with the site improvement we’ll see more robust numbers, but until the site is really improved … we’re going to have a struggle getting significant numbers to sign up,” Sebelius said at a Senate hearing.

Next week’s release may or may not include a state-by-state breakdown. Until then, information has primarily leaked out through local media and some disclosures by state officials.

A major insurer in North Carolina reported receiving only one enrollment so far as of Wednesday.

There are exceptions to this pattern. Some states that are running their own marketplaces appear to be faring much better in terms of enrollments.

An estimated 31,447 people will be covered by Minnesota’s exchange so far, according to the Star Tribune.