There is little room for error at this point. People seeking to take advantage of new consumer protections that kick in Jan. 1, or whose health insurance policies are being canceled at the end of the year, have until Dec. 23 to choose a plan and until Dec. 31 to pay their first month’s premium. Uneasy Democrats have expressed a willingness to dismantle parts of the law if problems continue. “If they get this fixed, it’s a chapter in somebody’s book. If they don’t get this fixed, it’s a chapter in history,” said Michael Leavitt, a former Utah Republican governor who served as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services during the tumultuous rollout of Medicare Part D, which added prescription drug coverage to Medicare. “They will need to demonstrate fairly soon that there’s improvement, or they will lose the support of their own party.” On Friday, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., told Minnesota Public Radio that if the website isn’t fixed on time then he would consider delaying the rule requiring most Americans to carry health insurance or face a fine. He joins a growing chorus of Democrats in Congress who recently have advocated for changes or delays to the law that could weaken it.
Posted on: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 16:43:10 +0000
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