Online health care enrollment for small businesses delayed

[cred65]

CNBC's John Harwood reports the White House is announcing a delay in health care online enrollment for small businesses. They will enroll employees through an agent, broker or insurer.

President Barack Obama's administration has announced yet another delay in the rollout of the health care law. An online health insurance marketplace for small businesses is being put off until November 2014 to make sure the HealthCare.gov website gets fixed first.

According to an internal administration document obtained by The Associated Press, employers who want to buy marketplace plans for their workers now will need to go through an agent, broker or insurance company. The administration says the plan will allow small businesses to buy coverage, without slowing technical repairs to the hobbled federal site.

The marketplace was supposed to provide small businesses a new way to shop for coverage.

It's the latest in a stream of missed deadlines, including a postponement for a Spanish sign-up tool announced this week. The latest delay was met with scorn by Congressional Republicans, who want to overturn the Affordable Care Act.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), said, "Turkey is not the only thing being carved at the White House this Thanksgiving.". "As Americans prepare to celebrate and give thanks with their families, the administration announces yet another carefully timed delay of its signature health care law. Just as it did over July 4 while we celebrated our independence, today the administration is doing its best to bury the latest confirmation that this law was not ready for prime time," Upton said, "For months officials looked us in the eye and told us everything was 'on track' but we have now learned through our investigation that internally the administration had serious concerns about its ability to deliver on October 1. Piecemeal delays and working outside of Congress to issue regulations does nothing to solve the fact that this law remains a tremendous failure that still, two months into open enrollment, is not even 80 percent operational," Upton said.

[Guest Taxed]

Should have allowed that in October. We lost a month!

They should also expand the pilot to other states for individuals to buy directly from insurance companies who are participating in the exchange.

[grmy2h]

>>>>Should have allowed that in October. We lost a month!

For REAL!!!!! Actually 2 months. What a mess we have now. SMH

[kcjenkins]

Surly no one is really surprised? Except the Panda, of course.

[Guest Taxed]

I am disappointed that they did not make arrangements to buy directly from the insurance companies once SHOP was delayed on opening day 10/1. They could have had 2 extra months to buy it.