WASHINGTON, D.C.–The deadline to sign up for health care coverage is today. At least that’s the official deadline. As of last count about half of Mississippians who are eligible had signed up, via the Affordable Care Act, according to the feds.
“If you don’t make the dealine, you may be subject to a penalty for that first year for not having coverage,” said Dr. Cara James, director of the Office of Minority Health for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency running the Health Insurance Marketplace at HealthCare.gov.
“More than 50,000 Mississippians are eligible for coverage, via the marketplace,” she said. “More than 25,000 have already signed up, but we want to make sure the remaining 25,000 have signed up.”
You probably already know there are problems with the Healthcare.gov website. Because of that, Pres. Obama has said there will be a grace period if you begin the sign-up process today.
The federal government claims that there has been a rush on last minute sign-ups and that interest has increased over the past couple of weeks. They set a goal of seven million people and said this weekend they will meet that goal. Skeptics have said they do not believe the Obama administration is giving out accurate numbers.
