Just one-THIRD of uninsured Americans got coverage after Obamacare kicked in – and HHS won't say how many of them actually bought Obamacare policies

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A top health insurance expert with the Department of Health and Human Services said Monday that she doesn't know what portion of Americans who have left the ranks of the uninsured did it by buying policies on Obamacare exchanges.

In a conference call for reporters, Office of Health Reform director Dr. Meena Seshamani boasted about new Gallup survey data that indicates 'the uninsured rate dropped from 20.3 percent to 13.2 percent' between the beginning of Obamacare's open enrollment and March 4, 2015

That's less than a 35 per cent dent in the uninsured ranks. President Barack Obama campaigned in 2007 and 2008 on the promise of a medical insurance law 'that will cover every American.'

And the 'reduction in the uninsured,' Seshamani said, 'could be through any of a number of avenues.'

UNDERPERFORMING? HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell presides over an Obamacare system that has managed so far to change the status of barely one-third of America's uninsured 

TAX BITE FOR MANY: Portions of about 4.5 million Obamacare insurance subsidies will have to be paid back this year

She listed a few, beginning with new coverage from empoyers – including among people who changed jobs – along with Medicaid and 'the individual market outside the [Obamacare] marketplace.'

The question of how many American consumers have gained medical insurance through Obamacare marketplaces themselves has become a sticking point in the ongoing political battle over the controversial law.

HHS reported Monday that '14.1 million adults gained health insurance coverage since the beginning of open enrollment in October, 2013.' 

Another 2.3 million 'young adults' under age 26 gained coverage through their parents' policies, an option that wasn't available to them previously.

HHS Office of Health Reform director Dr. Meena Seshamani touted new Obamacare numbers but wouldn't say how many people have become insured specifically because of the law's marketplaces

But CBO estimates in January held that Medicaid, a taxpayer-funded benefit for the poor, enrolled more than 7 million new customers in the same period – nearly 43 per cent of the total HHS listed in Monday's report.

The congressional bean-counting agency's latest estimates hold that the Affordable Care Act will cost $1.2 trillion over 10 years to administer and fund with subsidies.

That's about $3,770 for every American man, woman and child.

Monday's numbers came from HHS's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, which analyzed data collected through March 14 from a Gallup-Healthways 'Well-Being Index' survey. 

Dr. Richard Frank, the Office of Health Reform's assistant director for planning and evaluation, told reporters Monday that HHS has no idea how low it will be able to drive the uninsured rate, notwithstanding the president's campaign pledges.

'It's important to recognize that we're in entirely new territory here. ... We're treading new areas and we're just starting to understand more completely who we've brought in and who is left uncovered,' Frank said.

Obamacare customers who receive government subsidies got some unrelated bad news last month with the revelation that more than half of them will have to give some of that money back when they file their tax returns.

Research published by the tax preparation firm H&R Block found that typical subsidized Obamacare users owe $530 each because their subsidiies were calculated based on their 2012 income – and they earned more in 2014.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced on Feb. 9 that nearly 6.5 million people who live in the 37 states covered by its HealthCare.gov website would qualify for abn Obamacare tax credit this year since htey can't afford to pay the full price for medical insurance.

That means nationwide more than 4.5 million will see part of their April 15 refunds shaved away, according to a Daily Mail Online analysis.