Commissioner Doak Criticizes Shifting Obamacare Requirements

OKLAHOMA CITY, Feb. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Yet another delay announced for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) earlier this week adds to health insurance industry confusion according to Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak. The federal administration is again delaying a key requirement of the health law by allowing employers with fewer than 100 employees to avoid providing health insurance coverage until 2016.

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"It's Groundhog's Day where Obamacare is concerned and absolutely astonishing that the federal government is selectively enforcing the law as it sees politically expedient," said Doak. "The continual changes are confusing the people we care about most – the consumers and the insurance carriers who serve them. The industry is in a continuing spiral of adjustments to these changes that undermines their business plans and their ability to serve their customers."

The Obama administration has repeatedly changed the timing of requirements for employers. The enforcement of the mandate was originally delayed until 2015. This recent change allows employers with between 50-99 employees who don't already offer health insurance to delay until 2016 compliance to the shifting Obamacare requirements. Among other exemptions, the rule issued on Monday stated that employers won't have to cover seasonal workers, classified as those employed less than six months.

"All of these administrative fixes are a continuation of bad policy that is not going to work," said Doak. "When considering the bungling incompetence of the rollout and open enrollment not producing the expected results, this latest change is another indication of how imperiled Obamacare is with respect to delivering on its many promises."

ABOUT THE OKLAHOMA INSURANCE DEPARTMENT
The Oklahoma Insurance Department, an agency of the State of Oklahoma, is responsible for the education and protection of the insurance-buying public and for oversight of the insurance industry in the state.

For more information contact:
Kelly Collins
(405) 522-0683
[email protected]

SOURCE Oklahoma Insurance Department

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