Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, said Wednesday that the Obama administration would not extend the deadline for people to sign up for health insurance or delay the requirement for most Americans to have coverage.
And she declined to say whether the administration was still committed to its original goal of enrolling seven million people in private coverage through federal and state exchanges by March 31.
Testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee, Ms. Sebelius said categorically that the administration would not delay the “individual mandate,” under which most Americans must have insurance or pay a tax penalty. In addition, she said that officials would not extend the six-month open enrollment period, scheduled to end on March 31.
Ms. Sebelius reported Tuesday that 4.2 million people had selected health plans through the federal and state exchanges from October through February.
Representative James B. Renacci, Republican of Ohio, noted that the number of sign-ups was well short of the administration’s original goal and asked, “What do you now call success?”
Ms. Sebelius declined to reaffirm the goal of seven million and said she would define success as “millions of people having affordable health care” through private insurance and Medicaid.
The Affordable Care Act is already a success, she said, because the range of private health plans available to consumers is “more robust” than ever.
Representative Dave Camp, Republican of Michigan and chairman of the committee, opened the hearing with a barrage of questions and criticism for Ms. Sebelius.
“How much did the failed launch of the exchange cost taxpayers?” Mr. Camp asked. “How many people have actually paid a premium? How many previously uninsured Americans have signed up for Obamacare?”
Mr. Camp said: “Increasingly, we must ask, ‘When is the next delay or next administrative change in the law coming?’ It seems that not a holiday goes by without a new announcement from the administration that delays some part of Obamacare.”
The senior Democrat on the committee, Representative Sander M. Levin of Michigan, said millions of Americans were benefiting from the law and its insurance marketplaces. But, he said, “Republicans are so invested in making the Affordable Care Act a failure that they are blinded by the successes staring them in the face.”
However, a few Democrats also expressed disappointment and frustration at the way the health law was being carried out. “So much of the original promise of the Affordable Care Act has been undermined by faulty implementation that has sometimes been indifferent to local concerns,” said Representative Lloyd Doggett, Democrat of Texas.
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