Louise Radnofsky reports at
The Wall Street Journal:
The Obama administration said Friday it would allow people to sign up for insurance plans on HealthCare.gov through April, and at the same time said it sent some 800,000 people incorrect tax statements about their coverage in 2014.
The announcement of the inaccurate forms caps the rough first year for the health-care law, and means many taxpayers will have to wait to file tax returns. The error affects as many as 20% of the statements sent by the federal insurance website to people who signed up for coverage for 2014 and received tax credits to offset the cost of their premiums.
The extension of the enrollment period, which officially closed Sunday night for most users, is aimed at giving some consumers a chance to minimize tax penalties for going without coverage in 2015, officials said. It is also likely to boost sign-up numbers for the law’s second year.
The separate developments, announced simultaneously by federal officials, came days after President Barack Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell touted sign-ups this year for coverage under the Affordable Care Act topping 11 million. The law’s supporters have been calling for a change to the timing of the enrollment deadline for months.
