Enrollment to Be Delayed for Small-Business Marketplaces WASHINGTON - The Obama administration on Thursday announced another minor delay in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, saying that the insurance marketplaces for small businesses would be fully open for enrollment a month later than it had planned. White House officials played down the development, putting it at the end of a news release announcing that the Department of Health and Human Services was "launching the Small Business Health Option Program Marketplace." All functions for the program "will be available in November, and if employers and employees enroll by Dec. 15, 2013, coverage will begin Jan. 1, 2014," the release said. Originally, the Small Business Administration had announced that open enrollment for the business exchanges would begin on Oct. 1. Officials said the starting date for small businesses was less important than the one for the individual market because businesses are not limited to enrolling during only part of a year. Coverage for small businesses will begin as planned on Jan. 1, they said. But critics pounced anyway, accusing the administration of accepting delays for businesses while refusing Republican demands for a delay in the requirement that individuals get insurance. "Every step in the implementation process has seen delays and setbacks; we are certainly not surprised by this one," said Kevin Kuhlman, the manager of legislative affairs for the National Federation of Independent Business. But with this latest glitch in the small-business exchanges, the case for a delay of the individual mandate alongside the employer mandate only grows stronger. Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, said in a statement that it was time for what he called a "permanent delay" in the health care law. "Where's the American people's Obamacare delay?" he said. Where's the concern for the privacy and security of the American people's personal information? This law is a disaster, but the exchanges - the heart of the law - are supposed to go live in just five days? This law will never be ready for prime time. Republicans have seized on previous delays in the rollout of the health care plan as evidence that it is not ready. The administration announced earlier that it would delay until 2015 the requirement that employers provide health insurance.