A group of House Democrats has introduced legislation to delay penalties for not purchasing health insurance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act until the HHS Office of Inspector General certifies the federal exchange website is fully operational.
After the OIG certifies the site is running smoothly, the bill would give people at least 90 days to enroll in a health plan. The individual mandate penalties for not having coverage would begin until 30 days later, according to a news release from Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.), the bill's sponsor.
It would be "deeply unfair" to expect people to comply with the reform law using a website with so many problems, Rep. Lipinski said in the release.
Since its launch earlier this month, the federal exchange site, HealthCare.gov, has experienced numerous technical problems such as people not being able to create accounts and crashes due to high traffic. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner apologized during congressional hearings this week for the glitch-ridden rollout and have said federal officials are working to fix the site.
Last week, Jeffrey Zients, who has been tasked with repairing the site, said it will run smoothly by the end of November. HHS has chosen Mr. Zients — who will become the chief White House economic adviser next year — to provide advice, assessments and recommendations as part of a "tech surge" intended to address the numerous technical problems.
Last week, the Obama administration pushed back the date it will start imposing penalties on people who don't purchase insurance by six weeks, although the White House didn't link the move to the exchange site's technical issues. Consumers can now wait until March 31 to choose a policy and enroll without facing fines under the healthcare reform law. Originally, they would have had to enroll by Feb. 15 to avoid penalties.
More Articles on PPACA Implementation:
White House Delays Penalties for Uninsured by 6 Weeks
Tavenner, Sebelius Apologize for HealthCare.gov Snafus
Obama Administration: 700k Have Applied for Coverage Through Exchanges