Coverage gap

The big danger of the canceled policies isn’t totally off the table. For any individual health plans that don’t get extended, customers will have to find new health insurance, either through the Obamacare websites or through workarounds, like the call center or even contacting health insurers directly. If they can’t do it by Dec. 15, they might not have a replacement health insurance plan by Jan. 1.

If health insurers — and state insurance commissioners — go along with the White House plan and extend people’s policies, that won’t be a problem. But not all of them will. Insurance commissioners in Washington state, Mississippi, Georgia and Rhode Island have already said no, and others have said they’re skeptical about it.

“It definitely allows insurers to continue policies and avoid any cancellations until 2015, but it’s still up to state regulators and the insurers themselves whether to take the option. So, it’ll probably vary from state to state and plan to plan,” said Larry Levitt of the Kaiser Family Foundation.