President Trump was asked Wednesday why his administration hasn't reopened the healthcare.gov exchanges to help bridge the insurance coverage gap for those who do not have private insurance and who do not qualify for Medicaid.

"There will be people who don't have insurance who get sick before any of these mitigation efforts are put into place," Fox News' John Roberts asked at the coronavirus task force briefing. "Without opening the health care exchanges, where can they find insurance? People who aren't insured by these companies that are covering the cost of the copays, where can people go now to get health insurance if/before they get sick?"

Vice President Mike Pence responded first, with a non-answer that praised the president for forging relationships with health insurance companies and cited expanded coverage under Medicaid for coronavirus testing and treatment.

But his response didn't address people who had lost their jobs but wouldn't qualify for Medicaid. A senior administration official confirmed to NPR that a federal special enrollment period for healthcare.gov was not being considered.

Trump seemed to chuckle at Pence's quasi-filibuster.

"I think it's one of the greatest answers I've ever heard. Because Mike was able to speak for five minutes and not even touch your question. That's what you call a great professional," Trump said.

But he followed up by saying it's a "fair question" and is "something we're really going to look at because it doesn't seem fair."

The president then seemed to imply that Democrats haven't been focused on this issue.