To add to the confusion, some modifications are changes to previous changes. For example, this is the second time that the administration has allowed some people to keep noncompliant plans longer than previously announced.

Many experts had predicted that the law would need to be tweaked. It is typical that large, complex pieces of legislation are adjusted and clarified during the implementation phase, as policies move from paper to the real world. Usually, Congress makes such technical corrections…

Some critics view the constant moving of the goal posts as a sign that the White House is not confident that consumers will ever warm to the health-care law.

“It sure looks like we’re on a ramp to more changes, and those changes are occurring because people aren’t buying it — literally and figuratively,” said Robert Laszewski, an insurance industry consultant who has been an outspoken critic of the administration’s handling of the rollout.