Overestimating subsidies is one way to increase sign ups for Obamacare

From the Seattle Times:

About 8,000 Washington residents who are purchasing health insurance on the state’s fledgling exchange marketplace may be getting less of a subsidy than they thought they had coming to help pay for it. 

The exchange, called the Washington Healthplanfinder, said Friday that a calculator on its website mistakenly overestimated tax credits for about 6,000 applications that cover about 8,000 people, said Michael Marchand, communications director at the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, which operates Healthplanfinder. 

The error represents a setback for the state-run exchange, which has received favorable reviews once it got up and running as one of the few online marketplaces established under the Affordable Care Act that has a functioning website and is posting strong enrollment figures. . . .