A college student who who became an overnight Obamacare sensation after he claimed to have been among the first to successfully enroll in the health care plan … now is backpedaling.
It all started Tuesday when 21-year-old Chattanooga State University student and part-time day care worker Chad Henderson tweeted: "enrolled in #Obamacare just now! Looking forward to having affordable healthcare for the first time!" (Via Twitter / @ChadHenderson)
Media outlets ran with the story shortly after the tweet was posted because HealthCare.gov has been plagued with technical glitches and few people had reported being able to enroll in a plan.
Several of President Barack Obama's advisors reportedly retweeted Henderson's tweet, including Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The tweet is still up on her feed as of Saturday morning. (Via Twitter / @Sebelius)
WRCB interviewed Henderson in Chattanooga, Tenn. about how a new healthcare plan could affect his family.
After the station's reporter asked him about the plan he "enrolled" in, he said it actually cost more than he thought it would, but it was still within his budget.
The Washington Post reports Henderson purchased a plan that would cost him $175 a month, but that he's holding out hope for a cheaper plan in the future.
But Henderson's story came into question after his father was interviewed by Reason. Bill Henderson told the magazine neither he nor his son signed up for plans yet because they were waiting to find the best option.
Now, news outlets are calling into question Henderson's original story. (Via Chattanooga Times Free Press)
On Twitter, he said in part: "Enrolling in the exchanges on the website … & actually purchasing a plan are 2 different things."
In a follow-up interview with The Huffington Post, Henderson wasn't constrained by 140-characters.
"When I said 'enroll,' I guess I got the terminology wrong. I meant that I was able to actually get in and have access to compare the prices … It would be silly of me to just purchase something without even looking everything over for a few months. … We are still comparing everything."
Henderson says the he didn't purchase the $175 plan, but he was simply looking into it. In the meantime, HealthCare.gov is still overrun with heavy traffic, with an error message up on the site as of Saturday.
- See more at Newsy.com
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