Obama extends deadline to enroll in ObamaCare Exchanges

Late last night The Washington Post reported that the Obama Administration will allow individuals to enroll in health insurance plans via the federal exchanges after the March 31st deadline.  This comes just two weeks after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testified before the House Ways and Means Committee that the White House has no plans to extend the enrollment period.

Under the new rules, people will be able to qualify for an extension by checking a blue box on HealthCare.gov to indicate that they tried to enroll before the deadline. This method will rely on an honor system; the government will not try to determine whether the person is telling the truth.

The rules, which will apply to the federal exchanges operating in three dozen states, will essentially create a large loophole even as White House officials have repeatedly said that the March 31 deadline was firm.

This latest ObamaCare delay also comes two weeks after Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services spokeswoman Julie Bataille said, “we don’t actually have the statutory authority to extend the open enrollment period in 2014.” So which is it?