The White House has created a last-minute Affordable Care Act exemption for people whose individual insurance policies were recently canceled.

Those individuals won’t be fined if they do not buy an insurance policy in 2014. They will also be allowed to buy catastrophic insurance coverage through a government-run exchange, something that previously was allowed only for those under age 30.

There were already a handful of exemptions to the individual mandate. If someone is unable to buy suitable coverage for less than 8 percent of their income, they wouldn’t be fined for not having insurance. People who can prove other hardships—bankruptcy, death in the family and other catastrophes—can also receive an exemption.

The exemption news came just before Dec. 24, the last day someone could buy health insurance on an exchange and still receive coverage by Jan. 1. The original deadline for Jan. 1 coverage was Dec. 15, but that was delayed because of problems with the Healthcare.gov website. (Individuals can still buy coverage on the government exchanges through March.)

According to a new poll from CNN/ORC International, only 35 percent of Americans support the Affordable Care Act. That represents a 5 percent decline since November.