Kaiser Permanente said the consumer confusion about deadlines related to the Affordable Care Act has led it to extend the deadline to Jan. 15 for receipt of the first month's premium for a Jan. 1 coverage effective date. In the last two weeks of December, the volume of enrollment applications increased substantially.
Kaiser Permanente is still processing enrollment files and expects all invoices to be mailed by the end of next week. Kaiser Permanente said it is experiencing an even higher volume of calls than typically received at the start of the year due to inquiries related to the ACA.
In addition, the insurer has begun calling new members to inform them about the deadline extension and about the alternative to pay their premium online.
Burns is editor-in-chief of Insurance Networking News, a SourceMedia publication.
