Health insurers are now required to accept premium payments through Dec. 31 for people who have signed up for coverage beginning Jan. 1, according to the report. Previously, the deadline was Dec. 23.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters on a conference call that insurers can also choose to accept premium payments made after Dec. 31, and the agency is “strongly encouraging” them to retroactively cover people who submit payments late, according to the report.
The Obama administration also recently announced it will extend the Pre-Existing Conditions Insurance Plan by one month to give people with pre-existing conditions more time to purchase health plans through the exchanges, according to The Hill.
The $5 billion program was intended to help sick people waiting for the full implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which prohibits insurers from refusing to cover people with pre-existing conditions. It was originally scheduled to stop operating at the end of this year.
These decisions are the latest in a series of last-minute policy changes the Obama administration has made to the PPACA’s implementation. Other recent changes include delaying the 2015 enrollment period, 2014 enrollment deadline extensions and President Obama’s decision to allow insurers to extend non-PPACA-compliant health plans.
These administrative alterations will probably have a negative effect on health insurers, increasing uncertainty and therefore risk surrounding the PPACA’s implementation, according to a report from Moody’s Investor’s Service.
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