As was the case in 2014, people trying to enroll in Affordable Care Act health insurance plans will get one more week to sign up.
The deadline to pick a health plan on healthcare.gov came and went Sunday. The Obama administration hasn’t yet released any final numbers on how many people enrolled in plans — many of them federally subsidized — using the insurance marketplaces set up under Obamacare.
But officials did say Monday morning that shoppers have until Sunday to finish their application if they say they faced certain barriers to completing it — like technical issues or long waiting times.
“For those consumers who were unable to complete their enrollment because of longer-than-normal wait times at the call center in the last three days or because of a technical issue such as being unable to submit an application because their income could not be verified, we will provide them with a time-limited special enrollment period for March 1 coverage,” said Aaron Albright, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Customers who sign up for a plan by Feb. 22 will be covered starting March 1. The administration provided a similar special enrollment period at the end of the first signup season last year. Many exchanges run by state governments are providing shoppers with extra time as well.
The deadline marks the end of year two for healthcare.gov, which was established under the 2010 healthcare law. Fourteen states are maintaining their own health insurance marketplaces. All others are using the Washington-run marketplace.
