"We Don't Need No Stinking Rules!"

Obama Administration Will Allow Some To Enroll Under ACA Beyond March 31 "Deadline".

Though announced late Tuesday night, news that the Obama Administration would again delay this year's ACA open enrollment deadline garnered heavy coverage across major national papers, websites, and beltway publications. On its front page, the New York Times  (3/26, A1, Pear, Subscription Publication) reports that with the official March 31 deadline looming, the Obama Administration now says it will allow people who tried to enroll for healthcare coverage but were impeded by technical problems with the Federal exchange more time apply. Under the Administration plan, "some people will be given a special enrollment period, beyond the March 31 deadline, if  they can show they were not able to enroll because of an error by the federal exchange or by the Department of Health and Human Services."

Also on its front page, the Washington Post  (3/26, A1, Goldstein) explains further that officials confirmed "all consumers who have begun to apply for coverage on HealthCare.gov, but who do not finish by Monday, will have until about mid-April to ask for an extension." People "will be able to qualify for an extension by checking a blue box on HealthCare.gov to indicate that they tried to enroll before the deadline." The Post notes that the method "will rely on an honor system; the government will not try to determine whether the person is telling the truth." 

Politico  (3/26, Nather, Levine) provides "a brief history of some of the most prominent Obamacare delays," noting that with the extension, the Administration "is just continuing a long pattern of delays." While they are "all designed to show flexibility and help the law work better," they also "fuel a public perception that Obamacare deadlines never really mean anything."

Why would anyone care about the "long pattern of delays" and that the open enrollment period continues to be extended?   The open enrollment period was designed, so an individual could not wait until they were diagnosed with an illness to purchase health insurance.  The healthy would be mandated along with the chronically ill to purchase health insurance or pay a fine.  By continually delaying enrollment in the new ACA plan pools and indicating that the small fine will be difficult to enforce, the administration has created an environment where the healthy are not motivated to enroll and the adverse selection caused by the low participation will have a negative impact on claim loss ratios and eventually premiums.

 
At this point, would it not make more sense to just have a year long, rolling open enrollment with a 90 day pre-existing condition limitation period for anyone enrolling after March 31st?

Especially since the next thing we'll probably hear about is a first-year grace period or amnesty on the individual mandate penalties. There's no way the IRS is ready for next year's tax season, and once the administration delays the penalty there will be even less incentive for the healthy to enroll.