Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Administration To Shut Down ACA Enrollment Website For 12 Hours On Most Sundays
The Wall Street Journal: Healthcare.Gov To Shut Down During Parts Of Enrollment Period For Maintenance
The Trump administration plans to shut down healthcare.gov, a website consumers use to sign up for the Affordable Care Act, for 12 hours on nearly every Sunday of the coming ACA enrollment season. The outages, which the administration says are for maintenance, will occur from midnight through noon on every Sunday other than Dec. 10. This year’s enrollment season, which the administration has shortened to half the length of previous years, will run from Nov. 1 through Dec. 15 for states that use the federal marketplace. (Hackman, 9/23)
The Hill: HHS Plans Hours-Long Shutdowns Of ObamaCare Site During Enrollment Period
A spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the maintenance periods were planned ahead of time. “Maintenance outages are regularly scheduled on HealthCare.gov every year during open enrollment. This year is no different,” the spokesperson said. “The maintenance schedule was provided in advance this year in order to accommodate requests from certified application assisters. (Carter, 9/22)
Kaiser Health News: Sunday Hours: Obamacare Website To Be Shut Down For Portion Of Most Weekends
The Trump administration has come under attack from critics who say that it is intentionally undermining the Affordable Care Act, through regulatory actions. It shortened the enrollment period, withdrew money for advertising and cut the budget for navigator groups, which help people shop for plans. (Galewitz, 9/22)
