THIS JUST IN: White House offers exemption from insurance mandate for consumers whose plans were canceled

The White House released new guidance that offers some leeway to people who had policies cancelled and found that their options under the new law were more expensive.  They will now be able to qualify for catastrophic coverage (previously only available to those under 30 or who could demonstrate financial hardship), and avoid the penalty.

You can read the full article, from Modern Healthcare, here.  Within the article, you can access the actual .pdf that is the document issued directly by CMS.

There are only 4 more days left to enroll for those who need coverage to be in force by January 1, 2014.  Premium payments (which originally were required to be received by the insurance company prior to January 1), must arrive no later than January 10. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City requires their first payment no later than January 7.  If you are unsure, check directly with the carrier for clarification.

Enrollments after the 23rd will be processed for a 2/1/2014 effective date.  Enrollments processed after 2/15/2014 will be for plans effective on March 1, and those processed after 3/15/2014 will be effective on 4/1/2014.

Anyone who hasn't enrolled in a policy during this initial enrollment period, will have to wait until next year's enrollment to sign up or to make changes to existing plans.