Covered California Health Care Grace Period Ends Friday

SACRAMENTO (KCBS) — For consumers who missed the Monday deadline, the grace period to get health insurance through California's new marketplace for Jan 1 ends this Friday.

So just how busy are they at Covered California?

"In four days, we had over 100,000 people enrolled," Peter Lee, Covered California's executive director, said.

"As many as enrolled in two months shows not just that people are getting the message, but they are spreading the message. They're telling friends and family members, which I think is going to carry into January, February and March."

But if some people are confused and frustrated with the changing deadlines and inability to get through to the health insurance exchange, Lee said they are not alone.

"People, as we Americans do, waited until the last minute which meant the system was slower than we wanted it to be and many people couldn't get through on the phones."

Monday was the deadline to apply for health coverage beginning with the new year, but it was extended until Friday for those who had already started the process.

Lee urges everyone to be patient and to keep trying.

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