Feds extend deadline for Health Insurance Marketplace

Since long, federal officials had been projecting a surge of applications surrounding a largely promoted deadline of December 15 to have coverage effective from January 1, 2016.

The fee will increase every month that health insurance is not purchased. “With less than a week remaining before the December 15th deadline, we urge consumers to visit Healthcare.gov and get enrolled”, Burwell said. The tax penalty for not doing so will be $695 or 2.5 percent of taxable income, whichever is greater.

Love admits cutting it close by waiting until Tuesday to choose a health plan, but she said she is glad to have gotten it done to protect herself and her bank account.

Salt Lake City is among 19 other cities singled out by President Barack Obama for having the most uninsured people who are eligible for coverage.

“Without getting caught up in the political debate, health care coverage is important”, said Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams.

Consumers who do not meet the deadline will also have further opportunities to sign up as the open enrollment period is till January 31, with coverage starting from March 1.

The federal call center handled almost a million calls Monday, making it the biggest non-deadline day in the three years of the marketplace, according to the health agency.

The 2010 law imposes a penalty for most people who deliberately go without health insurance.

The Affordable Care Act mandates almost every American to have some kind of health insurance. Texas was second with almost 475,000 signups. “Financial assistance is based on gross yearly income and household size”, Chaney said.

During the first two days this week, “hundreds of thousands” of people had chosen plans in the 38 states relying this year on the federal exchange.

“We really urge people to come in and talk with an agent for a number of different reasons”.