Suck on this, Republicans. An “extraordinary volume of consumers” contacting call centers and logging on to Healthcare.gov has prompted the government to extend the enrollment deadline until midnight Monday, Dec. 19 for coverage starting Jan. 1.
Healthcare.gov CEO Kevin Counihan said that many consumers were asked to wait before signing up for health insurance both online and over the phone. “Nearly a million consumers have left their contact information to hold their place in line,” he said in a statement late Thursday night. “Our goal is to provide affordable coverage to everyone seeking it before the deadline, and these two additional business days will give consumers an opportunity to come back and complete their enrollment for January 1 coverage.”
That covers people in the 39 states that use the federal exchange, Healthcare.gov. And three of the states that operate their own—California, Connecticut, and New York—also have extended deadlines, but just to Saturday, Dec. 17. Three states—Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Washington State—are keeping enrollments open until Friday, Dec. 23.
And if you can't meet those deadlines, you still have 46 days to sign up. The final deadline for 2017 coverage is Jan. 31.
So guess what, Republicans? There's huge demand for health insurance out there. You're now completely in charge of having to figure out how to meet it. Good luck with that.