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 For others, it's not a deadline.
There is a "hardship" exception for some that permits them not to
sign up any kind of health insurance at all without facing a penalty — the hardship being problems they've encountered with Obamacare and
its malfunctioning website HealthCare.gov.
There will also be a "good faith exception" for others, according to
a senior Obama administration official.
"We'll have a special enrollment period," the official said last
week, for "all those who make a good faith effort to get enrolled by
the deadline" but fail to do so.
The official did not say how the government would determine whether
or not the effort was made in good faith.
Still others may simply get a break from insurance companies, which
the administration has urged to be flexible with people who miss the
deadline.
Such is the uncertain state of "Obamacare" as it approaches what was
originally supposed to be a defining moment — a signup deadline that
would provide the first real test of the viability of the healthcare
program brought into law by the Affordable Care Act.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that the original deadline for
obtaining medical coverage was December 15. That was extended to
December 23 after the federal government's website, HealthCare.gov,
proved dysfunctional and sometimes non-functional.
The administration has reserved the right to change the deadline
again "should exceptional circumstances pose barriers to consumers"
enrolling on or before Monday.
Obama said on Friday that one million people had enrolled for new
insurance plans under the law through HealthCare.gov, which serves
36 states, and 14 state-run marketplaces.
Many more enrollments are a major priority for Obama's signature
healthcare reform, which officials are still hoping will help
millions of uninsured and under-insured Americans finally to obtain
medical coverage by the end of March.
GAPS IN COVERAGE?
It is not known how many consumers may have no insurance coverage
during periods of 2014 because they failed to sign up on
HealthCare.gov by Monday.
Some of the 14 states running their own healthcare exchanges have
extended their sign-up deadlines past December 23.
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On Thursday, the administration announced that if people's old
insurance plans were canceled because of new standards under the
law, they can claim a "hardship" exemption to the requirement that
all Americans must have coverage by March 31 or face penalties that
start at $95.
So some of these people may not sign up.
The Obama administration says it is trying to be flexible, but some
Republican critics of the law say the frequent delays and changes
have muddied the waters and confused people.
"With no clarity as to when people should sign up and who they
should pay and when, it's a virtual certainty that many consumers
will find themselves uncovered for a period of time through no fault
of their own," Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, said last
week.
Administration officials said on Friday there are fewer than 500,000
people who have received cancellation notices from their insurance
companies and have not yet found alternatives. Some were
"auto-enrolled" in other plans by their insurance companies, the
officials said.
The pace of sign-ups has picked up since October and November when
technical problems crippled the HealthCare.gov website. Anyone who
tried the website in October and November and became stuck has been
getting attention from the administration.
Officials sent more than two million emails to people who could not
advance through the website. They have also made more than 600,000
phone calls to consumers and mailed notices to hundreds of thousands
of people, officials said.
"We are confident that we are doing everything we can so that
individuals know what their options are to get coverage, whether it
is at the marketplace or seeking it through the private insurers,"
said the senior official.
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; editing by Fred Barbash and
Christopher Wilson)
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