Health Care Enrollment Deadline Extended

Healthcare.gov will extend this year's deadline to enroll in health care coverage by two days. The previous deadline of December 15 has now been pushed back to 11:59 p.m. on December 17, in order to gain coverage for 2016

The change was made, according to the official announcement, "due to unprecedented demand."

"Because of the unprecedented demand and volume of consumers contacting our call center or visiting HealthCare.gov, we are extending the deadline to sign-up for January 1 coverage until 11:59pm PST December 17," Kevin Counihan, the CEO of Healthcare.gov, said in a statement.

"Hundreds of thousands have already selected plans over the last two days and approximately 1 million consumers have left their contact information to hold their place in line. Our goal is to provide access to affordable coverage, and the additional 48 hours will give consumers an opportunity to come back and complete their enrollment for January 1 coverage. "