The decision to delay a provision that was meant to limit the out-of-pocket health costs paid by individuals is the third such deferral of a key Obamacare component since July.
“The administration has delayed until 2015 a significant consumer protection in the law that limits how much people may have to spend on their own health care,” the New York Timesreported on Monday.
The provision limited out-of-pocket and deductible costs to $6,350 for an individual and $12,700 for a family.
However, “federal officials have granted a one-year grace period to some insurers” that enables them to either eradicate these limits or increase the threshold and set higher maximums.
The change was published on the Department of Labor’s website in February, but went unnoticed until it was explained in Part XII of “FAQs about the Affordable Care Act Implementation.”
The modification joins a growing list of provisions that have been pushed to the side in what critics say is an effort to soften the blow of a flawed piece of legislation.
The employer mandate was delayed for a year in July. Officials pointed to feedback from businesses as the reason for the delay, noting there were “concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively.”
The administration announced that same week that Health and Human Services (HHS) would rely on consumers’ “self-reports” to determine eligibility for Obamacare benefits. Critics said the change would invite fraud.
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