Insurers, officials try to push through website data problems to enroll new customers

A healthcare.gov website data delivery glitch is keeping insurers from fully enrolling people. In the meantime, HHS is asking insurers to allow consumers to pay premiums late and to let them temporarily see doctors who may not be on their health plans.

USA Today: Insurance Files From Feds Not Quite There Yet
The mixed news comes as insurers, regulators and consumers rush to meet a Dec. 23 deadline for people to sign up for insurance on the federal healthcare.gov site if they want policies that take effect Jan. 1. The Department of Health and Human Services said today that it is encouraging insurers to allow consumers to pay premiums late, to cover prescriptions filled after plans expire and to let people with urgent health needs use doctors who may not be on their new health plan during the transition to new plans. Aetna said it would give people until Jan. 8 to send premiums (O'Donnell, 12/12). 

NPR: A Rush To Reconcile Health Enrollment Data, By Hand
With just a few weeks left before a deadline to get health coverage, lingering bugs lurk in the part of healthcare.gov that you can't see. And since time is running out to get things right, health officials on Thursday urged insurance companies to cover some enrollees even if their premium checks haven't come in. Under the law's guidelines, consumers have to sign up for a health insurance exchange -- and pay their first month's premium -- by the end of December if they want coverage in January (Hu, 12/12).