Obamacare officials admit blunder: 800K got faulty tax info from federal website

The Washington Times reports:

Bowing to intense pressure, the Obama administration said Friday it will give uninsured Americans exposed to Obamacare’s tax for lacking insurance a six-week grace period to enroll in coverage on HealthCare.gov and avoid heftier penalties next year, even though they missed last weekend’s deadline to sign up.

The special enrollment period will last from March 15 to April 30 and apply to federal-exchange customers in 37 states who, while filing their taxes, “learn for the first time of the need to pay a fee,” said Andy Slavitt, principal deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The administration has estimated that up to 6 million people will be subject to the “individual mandate” tax for not holding insurance last year, although it has not projected how many will take advantage of the special enrollment period. The government will not offer relief from the 2014 penalty, which is the greater of $95 or 1 percent of household income above the filing threshold.

Friday’s move was not unexpected, as the administration had been openly mulling the relief period, and three state-run exchanges have already extended extra time to penalty payers.

The great moments of ObamaCare!! Just a reminder, a future President may push back on many ObamaCare deadlines because Strongman Obama has set a lawless precedent.