White House delays online health care enrollment for small businesses

President Barack Obama's administration announced Wednesday yet another delay in the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. An online health insurance marketplace for small businesses is being put off until November 2014 to make sure the HealthCare.gov website gets fixed first. The site would have served businesses with fewer than 50 full-time workers who qualify for subsidized coverage under the health care law.

According to an internal administration document obtained by The Associated Press, employers who want to buy marketplace plans for their workers will need to apply offline through an agent, broker or insurance company. The administration says the plan will allow small businesses to buy coverage without slowing technical repairs to the hobbled federal site.

The marketplace was supposed to provide small businesses a new way to shop for coverage. Until now, enrollment in the federal Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) has been available only through paper applications.

The delay is the latest in a string of mishaps for the site, and comes after the administration announced the postponement of a Spanish sign-up tool and the delay of the enrollment deadline for 2014.

Wire services