Insurers ease 'Obamacare' deadline

AP foreign, Tuesday December 16 2014

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

Associated Press= WASHINGTON (AP) — Trying to head off a new round of consumer headaches with President Barack Obama's health care law, the insurance industry said Tuesday it will give customers more time to pay their premiums for January.

America's Health Insurance Plans, the main industry trade group, says the voluntary steps include a commitment to promptly refund any overpayments by consumers who switched plans and may have gotten double-billed by mistake.

Though the HealthCare.gov website is working far better this year, the industry announcement highlights behind-the-scenes technical issues between the government and insurers that have proven difficult to resolve. Last year's enrollment files were riddled with errors, and fixing those has been a painstaking process. As a result, renewing millions of current customers is not as easy as it might seem.

The industry "wants to do everything we can to make sure consumers have greater peace of mind about their health care coverage and support them throughout the open enrollment process," Karen Ignagni, head of the trade group, said in a statement.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]