Obamacare News Latest: Obama Allies Seek Sign-up Extension for Affordable Care Act

Three Democratic congressmen will ask the government to extend the enrollment for the Affordable Care Act, whose deadline lapsed on Sunday, with tax penalties for those who fail to get themselves enrolled.

Reps. Sander Levin of Michigan, Jim McDermott of Washington and Lloyd Doggett of Texas, who helped in passing the measure in the House, said, "they are concerned that many of their constituents will find out about the penalties after it's already too late for them to sign up for coverage, since open enrollment ended Sunday," according to Fox News.

"Open enrollment period ended before many Americans filed their taxes. Without a special enrollment period, many people (who will be paying fines) will not have another opportunity to get health coverage this year," they said in a statement.

They said an extension of the sign-ups will provide many Americans quality health insurance this year.

"A special enrollment period will not only help many Americans avoid making an even larger payment next year, but, more importantly, it will help them gain quality health insurance for 2015," they said.

As of Feb. 12, the Department of Health and Human Services said 10 million Americans have already signed up or renewed their health coverage since the open enrollment began last Nov. 15.

Those who qualify for financial assistance in 37 states using Healthcare.gov until Jan. 30 will have a $268 in average monthly tax credit, it said, adding that there are 40 plans that Americans can choose from this year.

In order to heighten campaign for the enrollment, President Obama even made a Buzzfeed video titled "Things Everybody Does But Doesn't Talk About" where he announced the deadline for the sign-ups.

The blog ACAsignups.net estimates that about 11.86 million Americans had signed up for the Affordable Care Act as of Feb. 15 with a total of 12.43 million enrollees by the end of the month.