The missing feature on the federal website prevents those who secured insurance coverage on the site from updating their information on important life changes, including the birth of a new baby (marriages and divorces can’t currently be reflected either). This “change of circumstances” function was supposed to be part of the system from the start, but this feature that wasn’t completed, and could not be implemented when the government’s programmers became overwhelmed fixing other website problems during the error-plagued early days of the launch.
There is no firm date set for adding this feature, so for now, new parents must take the necessary extra steps to contact their insurance provider directly to secure coverage for a newborn. This should be done in advance of the due date, so the infant can be on the parent’s existing coverage as soon as they are born. When the federal—and some state’s—system is eventually able to process life changes like births, deaths, and changes in marital status, the parents will need to contact the government again through the system in order to bring their records up to date.
