By Dan Calabrese ——Bio and Archives--December 25, 2013
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Administration officials did not disclose the change to the public or to most insurers participating in the new marketplace before it was reported by The Washington Post. Under the federal rules, Dec. 23 has long been cited as the deadline for consumers to sign up for insurance if they want to have it on Jan 1. On Monday, even as they acknowledged that the rewritten computer code gives people an extra day, federal health officials insisted that the deadline had not changed, saying they were merely trying to accommodate people who might have trouble enrolling because of heavy last-minute Web traffic. Asked about the reason for the extra day — and why it was kept secret at first — officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency overseeing the health insurance exchange, at first declined to respond and then issued two statements with slightly differing explanations. Julie Bataille, director of CMS's office of communications said in the second statement that the official deadline for signing up for Jan. 1 coverage remained Monday, but added: "[W]e have taken steps to make sure that those who tried to enroll today but had delays due to high traffic have a fail-safe."So there's your fail-safe. If you couldn't get through yesterday because the clunk-o-rama that is HealthCare.gov wouldn't let you, no problem! Just spend Christmas Eve on the computer. While your family is making cookies, wrapping gifts and decorating the tree, you can enter wrestle with the worst web site on Earth in the vain hope that it actually allows you to get through, actually processes your order (only once, fingers crossed) and doesn't accidentally send all your personal information to people who aren't supposed to have it. Come to think of it, this has the potential to get you closer to the Lord during the celebration of His birth, since prayer is pretty much your only hope once you've dived down the ObamaCare hole. And if you're an insurer who thought all the enrollments were set as of last night? Surprise! Coal in your stocking, buddy! I guess they really weren't kidding when they sent out Pajama Boy to tell you what to expect for Christmas.
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