A White House communications adviser cautioned supporters of the health-care law to tamp down their expectations for next month’s rollout of the exchanges. “This is not a perfect world, and there are limitations on what you can do,” David Simas said to an audience at an event sponsored by Third Way.

“October will be light for enrollment … November will be a little bit better,” Simas predicted, according to Politico. “December will be better than the previous month … probably a dropoff in January from December, the same thing in February with another increase in March right before enrollment ends.”

Simas explained that the October 1 launch will serve as a six-month campaign to raise awareness of the exchanges and not just the opening of the enrollment period. He conceded that the administration could have started its outreach efforts earlier.