Obama administration delays another part of healthcare plan

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- The Obama administration says it delayed the implementation of caps on consumer spending for healthcare to give insurers time to update their computer systems.

The postponement was posted on a Labor Department website in February, The Hill reported. But apparently it was not noticed until this week.

Another key feature of the Affordable Healthcare Act, the employer mandates that require large businesses to provide health coverage or pay a penalty, was also delayed.

An unnamed administration official defended the decision on the caps. They would limit out-of-pocket payments to $6,350 a year for individuals and $12,700 for families.

"We knew this was an important issue," the official told The New York Times. "We had to balance the interests of consumers with the concerns of health plan sponsors and carriers, which told us that their computer systems were not set up to aggregate all of a person's out-of-pocket costs. They asked for more time to comply."

Republicans in the House have voted many times to repeal the act or to defund it.