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Insurers push Obamacare payment deadline to late January
Source: Reuters
Insurers push Obamacare payment deadline to late January
BY CAROLINE HUMER
NEW YORK Wed Jan 8, 2014 1:39pm EST
(Reuters) - Some top U.S. health insurers are giving consumers more time to pay their Obamacare premiums, extending the deadline to the end of January for benefits that begin retroactively from January 1.
The new extension adds to a series of deadline delays by government and the insurance industry to compensate for technical failures and errors plaguing the enrollment process under President Barack Obama's healthcare law.
The Obama administration and insurers have been working to prevent cases where problems in setting up new policies meant a consumer who thought they had insurance would not have benefits when they needed them. Republican opponents of the law have seized on its troubled rollout as a top issue for 2014 congressional elections.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and three more BCBS plans that are part of the privately held Health Care Service Corp. chain have moved the first payment deadline to January 31 from January 10. All of the plans are sold through the federal website HealthCare.gov, which had a December 24 deadline for customers to enroll and be guaranteed coverage by January 1 in 36 states.
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BY CAROLINE HUMER
NEW YORK Wed Jan 8, 2014 1:39pm EST
(Reuters) - Some top U.S. health insurers are giving consumers more time to pay their Obamacare premiums, extending the deadline to the end of January for benefits that begin retroactively from January 1.
The new extension adds to a series of deadline delays by government and the insurance industry to compensate for technical failures and errors plaguing the enrollment process under President Barack Obama's healthcare law.
The Obama administration and insurers have been working to prevent cases where problems in setting up new policies meant a consumer who thought they had insurance would not have benefits when they needed them. Republican opponents of the law have seized on its troubled rollout as a top issue for 2014 congressional elections.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and three more BCBS plans that are part of the privately held Health Care Service Corp. chain have moved the first payment deadline to January 31 from January 10. All of the plans are sold through the federal website HealthCare.gov, which had a December 24 deadline for customers to enroll and be guaranteed coverage by January 1 in 36 states.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/08/us-usa-healthcare-insurers-idUSBREA0715P20140108