In California, Obamacare To Begin Despite Possible Government Shutdown

By Pauline Bartolone/Capital Public Radio

With the prospect of a federal government shut down increasing by the hour, there are questions about how a shutdown would affect implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Open enrollment for health coverage in 2014 is scheduled to begin Tuesday nationwide.

Dana Howard of Covered California said, even if there is a government shutdown, enrollment efforts will not be affected.

"While we were funded with federal grants, we are state-operated and -run. We do not use a dime of state taxpayer money, we have our own staff, so we are not reliant on federal staff to be able to fulfill our operations," Howard explained.

Howard said 12,000 insurance agents have signed up to help with enrollment.

He also said potential applicants might want to consider all options before signing up, including whether an applicant's preferred health care provider will be part of the new plan.