Obama administration point to official end -- April 15 -- for enrollment extension

Apr 4 2014

The Wall Street Journal reports that this cut-off will apply to the hundreds of thousands of people who started signing up for insurance on the federal health exchange but got held up during their last-minute shopping. Also in the news, the latest from California and Georgia in terms of deadlines and enrollment efforts.  

The Wall Street Journal: Health Enrollment Extension To End April 15
People who started signing up for private health coverage before the March 31 enrollment deadline will have until April 15 to finish their applications, the Obama administration said Wednesday, putting an end point on an extension that had prompted questions. The cutoff point is being set for hundreds of thousands of Americans who tried to apply for coverage at the last minute and ran into long waits at enrollment centers, on a telephone hotline or on the website HealthCare.gov because of limits on the system's capacity and a string of late technical problems (Radnofsky, 4/2).

Los Angeles Times: Many More Californians May Qualify For Obamacare After Deadline
Even with 1.2 million people enrolled by Monday's deadline, California's health exchange isn't done adding to the Obamacare rolls -; and it won't be for quite some time. In the months to come, it's estimated that several hundred thousand more Californians could qualify for a special enrollment period as college students graduate, families move and workers change jobs (Terhune, 4/2).

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Why Some Don't Pay Their Obamacare Premium: It's Not What You Think
A new analysis finds that many people who signed up for a Covered California health insurance exchange plan are likely to drop the coverage for a good reason: They found insurance elsewhere. Researchers at the U.C. Berkeley Labor Center released estimates Wednesday showing that about 20 percent of Covered California enrollees are expected to leave the program because they found a job that offers health insurance. Another 20 percent will see their incomes fall and become eligible for Medi-Cal, the state's insurance program for people who are low income (Aliferis, 4/2).

Georgia Health News: Faithful Recruiters: Two From Catholic Order Joined ACA Effort
The volunteer army in the Affordable Care Act enrollment effort included two older women stationed regularly at a Macon Kmart. Sister Joan Serda and Cecelia Smaha, a layperson associate of the Sisters of Mercy, talked to hundreds of local residents about the health care law in the months leading up to Monday's enrollment deadline. The two say they volunteered for the Get Covered America campaign because their organization's mission includes helping people living in poverty who lack education and health care (Miller, 4/2).