One official, who asked not to be identified to discuss ongoing operations, told reporters Thursday that health officials “are working through that guidance right now in terms of how that would work for consumers, so that all those who make a good-faith effort to get enrolled by the deadline will get the effort for them to get covered and get it right.”
The administration has also hired an additional 800 people to handle calls from consumers seeking to enroll on the federal exchange, bringing the total number of call center staff to 12,000 in 17 sites across the country.
The official federal sign-up deadline, Dec. 23, is the same as the deadline in some of the 14 states running their own insurance exchanges. But a few states have decided to give their residents more time.
Maryland and Oregon, for example, extended the deadline until Friday. Washington state announced individuals had until Jan. 15 to sign up on its exchange, but only if they had started their applications by 11:59 p.m. Monday and encountered problems completing them.
Sandhya Somashekhar contributed to this report.
Article Appeared @http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/obama-administration-secretly-extends-health-care-enrollment-deadline/2013/12/23/66470068-6bdf-11e3-aecc-85cb037b7236_story.html?hpid=z1