Obama Administration Delays Launch of Federally Facilitated Small Business Health Insurance Exchanges

Small business in thirty-five states where the federal government is taking a principal role in the development of health care exchanges under “Obamacare” will be required to wait until November to complete their online purchases of health coverage. Originally, the Obama administration established that October 1, 2013 would be the opening date for the small business health care exchanges. This delay is not characterized as a major blow to implementation.

Regardless of that delay, small businesses will still be able to go online starting October 1, 2013 to compare their health coverage options and initiate the application process. They will be able to  complete those online applications in November, when the online system is expected to be fully functional. The administration has reported that its exchanges will have the ability starting October 1, 2013 to process paper applications manually.

This delay from October to November is not expected to affect the individual market exchanges that are facilitated by the federal government or the exchanges where the states are taking the lead role. It is predicted that this delay will not otherwise delay the implementation of health coverage under the exchanges.

See http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/obamacare-faces-new-delay-in-small-business-enrollment-97401.html