Obamacare’s hard enrollment deadline melts

Obamacare’s hard enrollment deadline melts 
by Paul Mirengoff in Obamacare

The Washington Post is reporting that the Obama administration will give extra time to Americans who say they are unable to enroll in health-care plans through the federal insurance marketplace by the March 31 deadline. According to the Post, consumers who have begun to apply for coverage on HealthCare.gov, but who do not finish by Monday, will have until about mid-April to ask for an extension.

To take advantage of this extension, consumers need only check a box on HealthCare.gov to indicate that they tried to enroll before the deadline. The government will make no effort to determine whether, in fact, an individual actually did try to enroll.
Obamacare sure has made the government more trusting.

It has also made it even more dishonest. The Obama administration has repeatedly said that the March 31 deadline for enrolling in Obamacare is firm. Now, we find out not only that the deadline isn’t firm but that it can be avoided simply by lying.

The Obama administration claims that its latest accommodation is an attempt to prepare for a possible surge of people trying to sign up in the final days before the deadline. But with the federal health care website supposedly in good working order, no one should have much difficulty signing up for Obamacare at the eleventh hour. Moreover, as the Post points out, the extra time will not be restricted to people who waited until the last minute.
I assume that the Obama’s administration’s extension is the result of disappointing enrollment numbers. The White House wants to lessen the embarrassment of falling short of its target number of enrollees and perhaps to reduce the scope of the insurance company bailout that the low enrollment of healthy people will necessitate.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/03/obamacares-hard-enrollment-deadline-melts.php