Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, there have been nearly 40 changes to the program, many of which have related to the deadline in which people are required to obtain health insurance. For instance, business owners aren't mandated to offer employee benefits until 2016.
A more recent postponement pertains to the individual mandate, as those who have tried to sign up for a plan through the exchanges but were unable to finish have until April 15, two weeks later than the previously announced March 31 deadline. But, according to a number of Americans, many believe that applying different deadlines is unfair.
Of the more than 1,300 respondents who participated in the poll, more than three-quarters said that they thought it wasn't fair to have different deadlines, insurance information firm HealthPocket found. Meanwhile, less than 25 percent said they didn't have a problem with deadlines being different.
Even among the states, there's a substantial amount of variability, according to HealthPocket. For example, because each state has different rules for what qualifies as a legitimate reason to have a longer grace period, deadlines contrast by up to three months.
It's unclear how many people who were previously uninsured have selected plans since the open enrollment period began. The White House recently noted that approximately 7.1 million people had selected plans between October and the end of March, but the Obama administration has been less than forthcoming about how many of these people had plans in place prior to the ACA but had their policies canceled. It's also unknown how many people have actually paid for their premiums, as coverage typically doesn't begin until an initial payment is made.
