Today, frantic Santa’s helpers have their hands full of last-minute tasks: Stuff the stockings, cook the meal, and for those true slackers, purchase the gifts. Now, thanks to an 11th-hour decision by the Obama administration, those same finish-line sprinters have time for another important errand: purchase health care. While the reprieve from what was a Monday deadline may be helpful to some, it seems a bit silly given the seasonal context. Nevertheless, tonight’s late-night preparations can now include a visit to the health exchanges.
It is a Christmas present, of sorts, and one that follows the adage, “It’s the thought that counts.” Sort of. It seems to be more of an afterthought, since much like last-minute Christmas shoppers, those seeking insurance through healthcare.gov were showing up on the site in record numbers Monday morning. In order to process the high volume, the White House decided to extend the deadline through Christmas Eve.
“We recognize that many have chosen to make their final decisions on (Monday’s) deadline, and we are committed to making sure they can do so,” said Julie Bataille, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in The New York Times. “Anticipating high demand and the fact that consumers may be enrolling from multiple time zones, we have taken steps to make sure that those who select a plan through (today) will get coverage for Jan. 1.”
It is a good thing that all the technical glitches that plagued the exchange’s early days seem to have been resolved. Now procrastinators have no one but each other to blame for long processing times on the site. Nevertheless, the administration has taken seasonally appropriate mercy by adding an extra day to meet the requirement to purchase insurance that will begin Jan. 1. If only it had implemented a marketing campaign akin to that of Amazon or any number of online retailers that barrage customers with an unrelenting string of emails alerting of impending shipping deadlines in advance of the Christmas holiday. Each more urgent than the last, these reminders serve to both instill panic and, perhaps, motivate extra purchases from those who thought the shipping window had closed. Health and Human Services could have been so resourceful, and in so doing, perhaps more effectively garnered action over a longer period of time. In the end, a one-day extension may be too little, too late.
It is, however, better than the alternative of having done nothing to accommodate the barrage of procrastinators, resulting in the unpleasant task of penalizing all who failed to purchase coverage by the deadline, despite having attempted to do so – albeit in the 11th hour.
By adding an extra day for Americans to purchase their health insurance, the Obama administration has eased a frustration – an avoidable one, to be sure – that many Americans were apparently facing. It was a small bit of holiday and administrative good cheer.
