Insurance companies would raise a ruckus because they set their prices based on customers enrolling before April. The Obama administration doesn’t want to push the successful enrollment stories until any later than they have to. And neither want to give procrastinators another reason to wait to sign up. …

“Here’s the irony of ironies: The insurance industry is ready for Obamacare on Jan. 1. Obamacare is not ready for Obamacare on Jan. 1,” said Robert Laszewski, an insurance industry consultant with Health Policy and Strategy Associates.

In fact, insurance companies have a lot to lose from a delay. They need to start racking up paying customers as early as possible in 2014 so they can set rates for 2015. …

“Delaying the individual mandate or extending the enrollment period past March 31 could have a destabilizing effect on the insurance markets,” said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for industry trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans.