Small businesses won't be able to enroll online for SHOP exchanges on Oct. 1. Another Obamacare delay

The Obama administration is delaying another piece of Obamacare — this time postponing enrollment in most of the small-business exchanges scheduled to open Oct. 1.

Small businesses looking to enroll in coverage on so-called SHOP exchanges run by the federal government can start their applications on Oct. 1 — they just won’t be able to enroll online until November.


The one-month delay is not a major blow to the health care law — the exchanges for individuals are still expected to open on time. But it’s yet another PR headache for the White House as it ramps up a major Obamacare sales pitch just five days before open enrollment is scheduled to begin.

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And it’s sure to to further stoke Republican-led concerns that the law is not ready and should be stopped before 2014, though the administration downplayed the delay.

“Small businesses will be able to participate in the SHOP beginning on Oct. 1 to evaluate their coverage options,” said HHS spokeswoman Joanne Peters. She noted that coverage doesn’t start until Jan. 1.

“Today the administration is announcing a major outreach campaign to make sure small businesses have the information they need,” Peters said. “Open enrollment for the SHOP Marketplace is year round, giving small business owners plenty of time to make a decision. The individual marketplace will still open on time on Oct. 1 with full online enrollment and plan shopping options.”

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POLITICO learned of the delay Thursday morning as President Barack Obama delivered an impassioned defense of the health law in Maryland.

Also on Thursday, The Associated Press reported that the Spanish-language version of Healthcare.gov, the administration’s main Obamacare website, won’t be ready on Oct. 1 either — a delay that could cause problems for the effort to sign up Hispanics, a key health care constituency.

The SHOP applications represent the latest glitch in the federal exchange infrastructure. Federal health officials recently said they won’t be able to transfer Medicaid applications to states right away, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week.

“This law is a disaster, but the exchanges — the heart of the law — are supposed to go live in just five days?” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said in a statement. “Give me a break. This law will never be ready for primetime because this is what happens when Washington takes over health care.”

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And earlier in the year, the administration said it would delay by a year a SHOP feature providing employees more flexibility to choose their health plans.

Sources said there’s been very little information about how applications will be transmitted from federal-run SHOPs to insurers selling the health plans, prompting the delay.

Small Business Majority, which strongly supports the health law, called the delay “disappointing.” But spokesman Rhett Buttle said that “by no means spells disaster for small businesses” which, unlike individuals, can enroll in exchange coverage any time of the year.

“I don’t think it’s going to hurt enrollment,” Buttle said. “People can still get enrolled Oct. 1.”

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The federal exchange glitch comes a day after Colorado and Washington, D.C. — which are running the own exchanges — announced they couldn’t immediately calculate whether customers qualify for a government tax credit to purchase insurance. They said the function would likely be delayed by a month for individuals. D.C. said that its SHOP exchange, however, is completely ready for an Oct. 1 launch.

“None of this is going to really impact consumers,” said Mila Kofman, executive director of the District’s exchange. “As long as consumers get enrolled, pay their premium by Dec. 15, their coverage is going to be effective Jan. 1.”

Earlier in the week, Obama touted the online enrollment experience in the exchanges during a conversation with former President Bill Clinton.

“They’re going to be able to go to a computer, tap on the Web page and they’re going to be able to shop just like you shopped for an airline ticket or a flat-screen TV, and see what’s the best price for you, what’s the plan that’s best suited for you, and go ahead and sign up right there and then,” Obama said.

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