Democrats urge grace period for Obamacare deadline

The Dec. 15 deadline is earlier than in previous years, and advocates of Obamacare have been concerned that potential customers do not know it is ahead.

In the past, the website sent customers to a “waiting room” during peak periods, where a screen notified them that the site was overloaded and allowed them to begin perusing health plans as they waited. The site otherwise asked users to leave contact information so they could return to the website when it was moving faster. Under the Obama administration, people who were on the healthcare.gov site at midnight and experienced some of these delays were given a grace period so they could still obtain coverage.

Democrats insisted on allowing wiggle room this year.

“You have previously stated that the department is ‘committed to making this year’s enrollment as consumer-friendly as possible,” Democrats wrote in to top health officials in the Trump administration. “We hope you will carry through with that goal and commit to offering a grace period for potential enrollees still waiting to enroll at midnight on Dec. 15.”

The Trump administration hasn’t indicated whether it will allow a grace period this year. When the Washington Examiner inquired on Tuesday about the possibility, a representative from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees Obamacare, said: “Consistent with our aim to have a seamless open enrollment experience for consumers this year, the website is performing well and consumers can easily access enrollment tools to compare plans and prices. The deadline for people to shop and pick a plan for the upcoming year is Dec. 15. We continue to encourage people to make plan selections by that deadline so that their coverage can begin on Jan. 1.”

The deadline lasts until 3 a.m. EST, so people on the West Coast have until midnight. Some states, such as California and New York, have later deadlines because they run their own exchanges.