WASHINGTON (AP) — Anticipating more health caredisruptions, the Obama administration Thursday
announced a batch ofmeasures intended to help consumers avoid lapses in their care andcoverage as the
president’s overhaul takes effect in January.Healthand Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius also
announced aone-month extension of a special insurance program created by the lawfor people who cannot get
coverage because of health problems. Scheduledto expire at the end of the year, the Pre-Existing Condition
InsurancePlan will remain in place through January.Some of the measuresare binding, such as requiring
insurers to provide coverage on Jan. 1for any customer who pays by New Year’s Eve. Others are
recommendations,like urging insurers to let customers temporarily keep fillingprescriptions covered by a
previous plan.The steps are the policycounterpart to the technical repairs that finally got
theHealthCare.gov website working reasonably well. They’re intended to helpmake sure anyone who needs and
wants coverage by Jan. 1 can get it,even if they got trapped by website woes. That includes some of the
morethan 4 million people whose existing health individual health planshave been cancelled because the plans
didn’t meet the new law’srequirements."That is frankly the big question right now," saidLarry
Levitt, an insurance market expert with the nonpartisan KaiserFamily Foundation. "Can the system handle
signing up everyone who wantscoverage by Jan. 1?I’d say the highest priority is avoiding a gap incoverage
for people who are already insured."Although intended tohelp, the new measures may just make things
more confusing forconsumers since some are mandatory and others voluntary. And the 14states running their
own insurance markets — including California andNew York — can make their own tweaks.Among the
provisions:—Stronglyencouraging insurers to refill prescriptions covered under previousplans through
January. Along with that, the administration alsoencouraged insurance companies to allow patients dealing
with an acuteillness to keep their current doctor. Even if the doctor is not part ofthe network, the
administration says the insurers should treat thephysician as if he or she were.— Following through on a
previousannouncement by formally setting Dec. 23 as the last day to apply socoverage will take effect Jan.
1. The administration also said it wouldconsider moving the deadline even later under
"exceptionalcircumstances."— Advising consumers who got bogged down with theHealthCare.gov website
that they still may be able to enroll after Dec.23 and get coverage on an expedited basis, if the issue was
caused bytechnical problems.— Encouraging insurers to allow people whosign up after Dec. 23 to still get
coverage at the first of the year,even retroactively. Officials said this would also be in the interest
ofthe insurance company because it would get that month’s payment.—Requiring insurers to provide coverage
for enrollees who pay as late asDec. 31. Addressing questions about the exact timing of the Dec. 31deadline,
administration spokeswoman Joanne Peters said payment is dueat the time of day the insurer sets, customarily
local time. Insurancecompanies can set a later payment deadline. The administration alsoencouraged them to
accept partial payment.Mike Hash, healthreform director for the Health and Human Services Department,
toldreporters that "it’s quite common" for insurers now to makeaccommodations for patients
switching coverage.But insurers weren’t happy."Withonly weeks to go before coverage begins, continued
changes to the rulesand guidance could exacerbate the challenges," Karen Ignagni, presidentof the
industry trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans, said in astatement.The federal pre-existing
conditions plan extendedThursday was designed as a temporary lifeline to get uninsured patientswith serious
conditions through to 2014. Starting next year, insurers nolonger may turn away people with health problems.
Nearly 86,000 peopleare still in the plan, including many patients with serious conditionssuch as heart
disease and cancer.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rightsreserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.