The CMS, after much public speculation and some confusion, has set April 15, tax filing day, as the extended sign-up deadline for people to get insurance through the federal exchange, an agency spokesman confirmed.
In late March, HHS released a memo that stated it would give consumers who put a good faith effort into completing an application—but for whatever reason, were unable to do so by March 31—until mid-April to complete the task.
The initial deadline vagueness was likely intentional to provide political cover had the administration missed its enrollment target goal. That's no longer a concern, as enrollment not only beat the revised Congressional Budget Office target of 6 million, but the original CBO estimate of 7 million, with enrollment reaching 7.1 million as of April 1.
The extended deadline only applies to those living in the 36 states relying on HealthCare.gov their insurance exchange. State-based exchanges were not obligated to grant additional time, although several have done so. Oregon, for example, has set April 30 as its extended deadline. It is unclear how many people are anticipated to benefit from getting more time because the government has not released any projection.
For people who went the old school route with a paper application, the CMS indicated last month that it would only accept those until April 7.
Those who don't get coverage by the April 15 deadline will be subject to an annual fine of up to 1% of their taxable income.
Follow Virgil Dickson on Twitter: @MHvdickson
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