New exchange plan regulations suggest that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services could announce more deadline extensions if it or carriers have serious problems with enrolling exchange plan applicants.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has said that will be requiring the issuers of the commercial plans sold through the exchanges — “qualified health plans” — to accept the first payment for coverage starting Jan. 1 up until Dec. 31.
Separately, in new interim final regulations set to appear in the Federal Register Dec. 17, CMS has given the formal regulations it is using to move the plan selection deadline for QHP coverage starting Jan. 1 to Dec. 23, from Dec. 15.
In the temporary regulations, CMS talks about the possibility of future changes in at least two places.
In a discussion of the plan selection deadline move to Dec. 23, from Dec. 15, officials raised the possibility of more deadline moves.