Completion Grace Period Added To Goverment Deadline For Obamacare Signup
By Pat Loeb
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- People trying to get insurance through the Affordable Care Act will have a grace period to complete their applications, as long as they begin the process by the original deadline of March 31st.
Enrollment counselors and navigators say they've seen a surge in applicants as the deadline draws near.
Antoinette Kraus, of the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, says it makes sense for the federal government to give extra time to allow for last-minute glitches and confusion.
"What we're seeing is just an overwhelming rush of folks who want to get health insurance," Kraus told KYW Newsradio today, "and it's causing an overload on the system. And that's a good thing, because so many people want to be able to get access."
Kraus says enrollees still have to have an online account at healthcare.gov by Monday, March 31st, but they'll have two more weeks to make their first premium payment -- the final step in the enrollment process.