The Obama administration extended health care coverage under the temporary Pre-existing Condition Insurance Program (PCIP), the federal high-risk pool set up to provide transition insurance to those closed out of private markets by pre-existing conditions, through the month of January. This step was designed to prevent a lapse in coverage for PCIP participants who have had trouble enrolling in new Obamacare policies.
And before you ask, yes, the administration has the power to do this, as Sarah Kliff reports:
The Affordable Care Act intended for the PCIP enrollees to transition into health law coverage by the end of this year. The law also gave the agency authority to “extend coverage after the termination of the risk pool involved if the Secretary determines [that] necessary to avoid such a lapse.”
So maybe this time we won’t hear people opposed to ACA in the first place complain that the president is violating its provisions.
