The deadline for enrollment in Covered California policies that take effect Jan. 1 has been rolled back a week, to Dec. 23.
The state Obamacare operation announced Nov. 21 that shoppers in the individual insurance marketplace would get more time to sign up for its health insurance policies.
The deadline for first payments also has been pushed back, to Jan. 5.
Covered California said the move was part of its efforts “to sustain, if not increase, its enrollment momentum and help affected consumers.”
For shoppers in the private insurance market — those who aren’t covered by employers — it has been a head-spinning month.
President Obama reversed course and allowed extensions of non-Affordable Care Act compliant policies through the end of 2014. That would have affected as many as a million state residents, but Covered California’s board voted Nov. 21 not to allow the extensions. The decision-making process left hundreds of thousands of those currently insured in limbo for more than a week.
Some Californians covered by two major carriers received late notices of cancellations, prompting the state insurance commissioner to force extensions of those cutoffs.
Meanwhile, the Covered California web site has seen its share of bugs and downtimes, frustrating some consumers who try to sign up for coverage. The state web site, however, has fared far better than the federal Obamacare site, whose failures have turned into a scandal for the White House.
Covered California also decided to take down the enrollment section of its web site for a long weekend for the upgrade to allow small business signups.
My daughter has been notified she can no longer keep her Blue Shield insurance. Rose has dyslexia, she has severe bone spurs in both feet that make it impossible to stand for more than 20 minutes. She was hit by an uninsured driver 3 yrs ago and suffered a wrist injury. She has had two ear surgeries this year and is still deaf in one ear.
Her 3rd surgery is taking place on Dec. 3. We are praying it will restore Hearing. I have worked to support her Through all of this so she would not be a burden to society. I am 67 and she is 42.
Her current plan cost 330 per month and she has a $2,700 deductible. Now I will pay almost $500 per month with a $6,200 deductible. I cannot survive this devastation. What can we do. She wants to work but cannot because the ear surgery requires long recuperation and finding a job where she doesn’t stand is difficult.
Can you please advise. I am worried sick.