Health-insurance coverage deadline extended again on Tuesday!

In a last-minute push on insurance coverage enrollment deadline in the health-insurance marketplaces, once again extended the deadline for people to register for health insurance coverage on on Tuesday at Healthcare.gov.

US federal officials on Monday extended the deadline by 24 hours for people to sign up for health-insurance coverage starting Jan. 1, 2014. The deadline was originally set for midnight on Monday, but changes made over the weekend to the federal HealthCare.gov website will allow users to sign up for the first wave of coverage through Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said.

The new extension follows a 24-hour “grace period” that was granted on Monday – beyond the original deadline of Monday 11:59 pm – for benefits that would kick in on Jan. 1.

In an blog Tuesday on the HealthCare.gov website, the Obama Administration said that people who could prove that trouble on the Healthcare.gov website had hindered them from signing up would be granted an extension.

“Even though we have passed the Dec. 23 enrollment deadline for coverage starting Jan. 1, we don’t want you to miss out if you’ve been trying to enroll,” the administration said in the blog. “Sometimes despite your best efforts, you might have run into delays caused by heavy traffic to HealthCare.gov, maintenance periods, or other issues with our systems that prevented you from finishing the process on time. If this happened to you, don’t worry, we still may be able to help you get covered as soon as Jan. 1,” the message added.

The blog advised visitors: “Contact the Marketplace call center at 1-800-318-2596 (available 24/7; closed December 25). TTY: 1-855-889-4325. Tell our customer service representative that you’ve been trying to enroll and explain why you couldn’t finish by the deadline. They can tell you what you can do to finish your enrollment and still get covered for 2014.”

There was a record amount of traffic on Healthcare.gov on Monday, The New York Times reported, and health officials wanted to make sure that people who are looking for coverage can get it.
In most states, Monday, Dec. 23 had been the deadline for selecting a plan that would take effect on the first day of the new year.