Small businesses won’t be able to go online and buy health insurance for employees through the government’s Small Business Health Option Program as originally planned.

Instead, the website will be delayed for a year, according to reports from The Washington Post and Politico. Businesses will still be able to use the SHOP program this year – and thereby qualify for tax incentives – but any enrollment will have to take place offline, through an insurance broker or agent.

The delay affects states where the federal government operates the online insurance exchange. According to the published reports, the delay also will allow the site to have more and better features when it debuts.

But business groups expressed continuing frustration about delays in the law.

“The Obama Administration continues to make it incredibly difficult for small businesses to adequately plan and prepare when they continue to move the goal post,” said Katie Vlietstra, director of government affairs for the National Association for the Self-Employed. 

“We have provided the Administration with guidance and clear examples of how this type of decision will negatively impact us and yet, they continue to ignore the businesses that create the vast majority of jobs in the United States. We are disappointed to say the least; small business owners now have less than 45 days to scramble and find adequate health care coverage for them and their employees.”