White House Extends Health Care Sign-Up Deadline by 1 Day Today was supposed to be the official deadline for consumers to enroll for health care coverage starting Jan. 1. However, the White House is now tweaking the deadline, giving last-minute shoppers one more day to select their plans. The deadline for signing up for coverage to start Jan. 1 is today. We recognize that many have chosen to make their final decisions on today's deadline and we are committed to making sure they can do so," said Julie Bataille, director of CMS" Office of Communications, in a written statement. "Anticipating high demand and the fact that consumers may be enrolling from multiple time zones, we have taken steps to make sure that those who select a plan through tomorrow will get coverage for Jan 1," Bataille said. HealthCare.gov has been experiencing high traffic today and the automatic queuing system has kicked in at times, encouraging consumers to leave their email and wait to be invited back to the site. The administration says it consulted with issuers about the deadline extension, which gives consumers until midnight on the 24th to enroll.