Americans who don't have employee benefits or who missed the open enrollment deadline may have to wait awhile before they can shop through the exchanges, as a new report suggests that the marketplaces are essentially out of commission.
Fox News recently reported that those seeking to purchase coverage through the federal exchange will likely have to utilize a different strategy, mainly because the open enrollment period ended officially on March 31.
"It's all closed down," John DiVito, president of Flexbenefit, told the cable news outlet. "You cannot buy a policy that is a qualified policy for the purpose of the ACA until next year on January 1."
Plans are deemed to be "qualified" if they satisfy key benchmarks, which are laid out in the 10 essential health benefits provision. In other words, policies have to provide for specific treatments and services, such as prescription drugs, reproductive health, lab tests and trips to the emergency room.
John Goodman, analyst for the National Center for Policy Analysis, indicated that this latest development is somewhat ironic, given the reason why the ACA was passed in the first place.
"The whole point of ObamaCare was to encourage people to get insurance," Goodman told Fox News. "Now the market has been completely closed down for the next seven months."
Still, some may be able to sign up. At HealthCare.gov's blog section, the website states that some people may still be able to enroll, even though open enrollment closed at the end of March.
Despite the numerous glitches that the federal website encountered, President Barack Obama announced that more than 7 million Americans selected health plans in the six-month sign-up period. Many state-based exchanges are still accepting applications.
