Obama to Host 'Off the Record' Obamacare Conference Call With Faith Leaders

    Close on the heels of an Obamacare-related "off the record" conference call hosted by Vice President Biden, President Obama will host one of this own on Monday, March 10 with faith leaders.  According to the announcement, the president "wants to thank all of the faith and community leaders across the country" for their help in enrolling people in Obamacare.  The exact content of the call will not be known, however, because the "call is off the record and not for press purposes."

    The call was announced on the Health and Human Services (HHS) website under the heading "Calling All Faith Leaders!":

Calling All Faith Leaders! Conference Call with President Obama on the Affordable Care Act 

March 10, 2014 | 1:00 PM EST 

Teleconference 

The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships invites you to join President Obama for a conference call on Monday, March 10th at 1:30pm ET. 

President Obama wants to thank all of the faith and community leaders across the country who are working hard to help millions of Americans access affordable, quality health coverage. As you know, one of the President’s top priorities is to ensure that Americans get covered by enrolling in the health insurance marketplace before the March 31st deadline, and he looks forward to discussing these issues with you 

Thank you for your work and continued support. Please feel free to share this invitation with other community contacts who would be interested in this work. We hope you will be able to join us. 

*This call is off the record and not for press purposes.

     The call will take place with exactly three weeks remaining in the open enrollment period for obtaining 2014 coverage through the insurance Marketplaces.  HHS recently acknowledged that insurance companies may still offer coverage directly to consumers outside the marketplace after March 31 as long as the policies conform to Affordable Care Act requirements and are available to anyone.  At this point it is unclear whether or not insurers will take advantage of this opening.  Those purchasing individual coverage outside the marketplace after March 31 will not be able to receive subsidies and will likely face a tax for the portion of 2014 in which they were uninsured.


Note: A version of this post first appeared at The Weekly Standard.