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Sebelius to give same old ObamaCare line to Congress

WASHINGTON — If Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ congressional testimony Wednesday about the defective ObamaCare rollout sounds ­familiar, that’s because it is.

Sebelius’ prepared remarks for an appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee are nearly identical to Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner’s opening comments Tuesday before another House panel.

Both say malfunctions with the site are “not acceptable,” and vow that tech wizards are working “around the clock” to fix it.

But neither provides new ­insights into what went wrong.

Neither reveals the critical number of how many people have signed up for the nation’s new health plan, a closely guarded ­administration secret.

Nor do they answer alarming reports that millions of Americans are losing their current ­insurance coverage because of ObamaCare, despite President Obama’s repeated promises to the contrary.

“The fact is that the Affordable Care Act delivered on its product: quality, affordable health insurance,” Sebelius says in her remarks. “The tremendous interest in HealthCare.gov shows that people want to buy this product.”

Despite such boasts, Tavenner repeatedly refused to say how many people have actually ­enrolled.

The number is crucial because the ObamaCare law falls apart if not enough Americans — especially the young and the healthy — pay for new health plans to fund the system.

“We will not have those numbers available until mid-November,” Tavenner said under intense questioning by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman David Camp (R-Mich.).

“You have no numbers on who’s enrolled, so you have no idea?” an incredulous Camp asked.

The administration originally set a goal of 7 million enrollees by the March 31 deadline. Officials had estimated that 500,000 would sign up in October.

Tavenner conceded that the number revealed in November would be “small.”