Tweedledum and Tweedledee
NJ lawmakers push state on canceled health policies as Obamacare deadlines are extended by a week
Friday November 22, 2013, 11:25 PM
The Record
The federal government on Friday extended by eight days — until Dec. 23 — the deadline for people to enroll in health coverage that starts Jan. 1 under policies available in the new Obamacare marketplaces.
But with 39 days remaining before cancellation notices take effect for hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents whose plans don’t meet the Affordable Care Act’s new standards, state Insurance Commissioner Kenneth Kobylowski still has not decided whether he will allow insurance companies to renew previously canceled policies, as President Obama requested last week.
The extension was announced as New Jersey’s largest health insurer allowed some customers who received cancellation notices to keep their policies, and as problems in reaching the federal government’s enrollment website were easing.
Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation, led by U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, asked Kobylowski on Friday what he was waiting for. They questioned whether continuing delays would mean that there won’t be enough turnaround time to reverse the cancellations.
In a three-page letter, Menendez, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, and six members of the House of Representatives, including Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., asked Kobylowski what “additional clarification or guidance” the state needs, and what steps have been taken to “ensure full continuity of coverage.”
