Week of October 28, 2013

With Congress now focused on dissecting the troubled rollout of health insurance exchanges, the Obama administration is making modifications to its marketplace schedule and is facing pressure to do more. The administration announced last week that it will issue new guidance pushing back the date by which individuals must have health care coverage or face a penalty. The new date, March 31, 2014, coincides with the end date for the open enrollment sign-up period. Late last week, 10 Senate Democrats signed on to a letter calling on the administration to extend the open enrollment period, by an unspecified period, as well. Another Democratic Senator, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, is urging a one-year delay in the mandate. Meanwhile, experts called in to fix the website are predicting an end to the majority of problems by late November. Even if the projection is accurate, many fear enrollment in exchanges will suffer as a result of the significant rollout issues.

Source:  Aetna Health Reform Weekly