Amid growing outrage over Healthcare.gov’s botched rollout, two Democratic senators renewed calls to delay Affordable Care Act deadlines.
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) urged the Obama administration to delay the individual mandate for one year. Last week, Manchin announced he was crafting a bill that would do just that. Currently, uninsured Americans have until March 31st to get coverage before facing a financial penalty.
“Nobody should be forced to buy a policy that costs more than what they had, and is inferior to what they had,” Manchin said. “Those things have to be worked out.”
On CBS’ “Face The Nation,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) repeated her call to extend the open enrollment period beyond the current date of March 31.
“The rollout has been a disaster,” she said, noting that many of her constituents have tried to enroll and haven’t been able to due to techincal issues. “What I’m proposing is that we extend the period in which people can enroll, so we can make sure we get as many people who want health insurance able to enroll and be able to be covered.”
Shaheen was one of 10 Democratic senators who signed onto a letter to President Obama, pushing for an enrollment extension.
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