Someone must have missed the memo, as this regulation was announced on a Tuesday, and not a Friday afternoon!

The Obama administration is permitting more than a dozen states not to implement part of ObamaCare’s small business health insurance exchange until at least 2016.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) granted requests for lenience from 18 states in their effort to enact “employee choice” on the Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP exchange.

The delays mean that small-business employees seeking to buy health insurance in the SHOP system will only have one option in those 18 states. 

The Affordable Care Act intended to allow customers on the SHOP exchange to pick from a variety of options, but the rollout of that feature has been delayed several times. 

In the latest deferral, the administration allowed state insurance commissioners to request that the SHOP in their state not offer “employee choice” next year. 

CMS did not deny any of the petitions, which were due on June 2.