Small firms get delay in health enrollment

Small businesses won't be able to enroll in new online health insurance marketplaces until Nov. 1 in most states, the latest delay for the Obama administration's signature health-care law.

Enrollment will be delayed in the 36 states where the federal government is running insurance exchanges, said Joanne Peters, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Businesses can shop for coverage on the government's websites beginning Oct. 1, the original date the marketplaces were scheduled to open, the agency said in a statement.

Insurance marketplaces for individuals "will still open on time on Oct. 1," Peters said, "with full online enrollment and plan shopping options."

The exchanges for small businesses, available for companies with 50 or fewer full-time workers, were something of an afterthought when Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010.

The administration had already said April 1 that workers at these companies wouldn't immediately be able to pick any health plan they wanted as the law intended and, instead, would have to sign up for a plan selected by their employers.

The administration said July 2 that companies employing 50 or more workers wouldn't face fines for not providing health insurance until 2015, delaying a major provision of the law.

Officials at HHS called groups representing small businesses Thursday to alert them to the delay.