NBC: White House plans to delay individual mandate 6 weeks [UPDATE] WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- The White House may try to delay the deadline for the Affordable Care Act individual mandate by as much as six weeks, NBC News reported in Washington Wednesday. Citing administration officials it did not name, NBC said it was not immediately known whether delaying the individual mandate would require congressional approval or could be done administratively by the Department of Health and Human Services. Currently, the law requires individuals without health insurance to begin the process of applying for insurance by Feb. 15 through the HealthCare.gov website, NBC said. The report came as a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Manchin was drafting legislation to delay the mandate for one year, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., called for extending the open enrollment period. Obamacare-defund/9401382474514/?st">READ: Association of American Physicians and Surgeons calls for Obamacare defund HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Director Marilyn Tavenner, along with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, met Wednesday at the White House with health insurance chief executive officers and lobbyist Karen Ignagni, president of the America's Health Insurance Plans trade association. The White House said in a news release the administration officials were "collaborating closely with the insurers to address problems" with ACA enrollment. The statement said the meeting with chief executive officers of companies including Aetna, Humana, CareFirst, Health Net Inc., WellPoint and Kaiser Permanente "is another way we are ensuring that we are doing everything possible to address the technical issues to ensure that all the American people who need it can purchase the affordable health care coverage made available as a result of the Affordable Care Act." Sebelius told CNN Tuesday President Obama did not know HealthCare.gov faced technical problems before it went live Oct. 1. "I think it became clear" to Obama in "the first couple of days," she said.