When in Doubt,  Delay

Doubtful delay is worse than any fever.

Henry Constable (1562-1613), English poet, Shakespeare contemporary

ObamaCare’s latest delay, extending the enrollment period past March 31,  is the latest in a series of delays.   Each delay spikes the fever of the health reform debate, which will either soar or break with the midterm election results in November 2014.

What follows is a list of 10 ObamaCare delays.  Eight of 10 have occurred since the October 1, 2013 healthcare.gov launch.  ObamaCare fever is rising and will probably peak just before the midterm elections in November 2014.

ObamaCare Delays (from Politico, March 25, 2014)

March 25, 2014: Final enrollment deadline extended. The March 31 deadline —  end of enrollment for 2014 — will be relaxed for people with special sign-up circumstances.

March 14, 2014: High risk pools extended. The special, temporary coverage for people with pre-existing conditions —  supposed to last until the health insurance exchanges were in place — was extended a third time for another month.

Feb. 10, 2014: Employer mandate delayed. This time, businesses with between 50 and 100 workers were given until 2016 to offer coverage, and the mandate will be phased in for employers with more than 100 workers.

Jan. 14, 2014: High risk pools extended. The high-risk insurance pools, which originally had been slated to close Jan. 1, had already been extended once.

Dec. 24, 2013: Enrollment deadline extended. In a message on HealthCare.gov, customers were told they could get help finishing their Jan. 1 applications if they were already in line on Dec. 24.

Dec 12, 2013: Enrollment deadline extended. Customers on the federal enrollment website were given nearly two more weeks to sign up for coverage effective Jan. 1.

Nov. 27, 2013: SHOP delayed. Online enrollment for the federal health insurance exchanges for small businesses was delayed.

Nov. 21, 2013: Open enrollment delayed for 2015. The administration pushed back next year’s enrollment season by a month.

July 2, 2013: Employer mandate delayed. The administration declared that it wouldn’t enforce the fines in 2014 for businesses with more than 50 full-time workers who don’t offer health coverage. The fines were pushed back to 2015.

Nov. 15, 2012: Exchange deadline delayed. The Department of Health and Human Services gave states an extra month to decide whether they would set up their own health insurance exchanges — a decision they announced just one day before the original deadline.

The moral to this oft-told delay tale? 

When in doubt it is better to delay,

Rather than your legacy to defray.

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