You Can Still Purchase a New Health Plan for a Very Limited Time
Did you miss “Open Enrollment” for the Affordable Care Act? If so, you may still have time to sign-up for a health insurance plan. Some of the carriers in Utah are allowing individual to sign-up for a few more days, you must act fast. You must also have coverage before May 1st, to avoid the “Penalty.” The penalty for not having a health plan by May 1st, for most people is 1% of your annual income. Next year the penalty gets real uncomfortable at 2.5% of your income.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to still enroll in a health plan, it could end any day. This is not a sales pitch, some carriers have already quit accepting new application, there are only a couple carriers still accepting applications.
What Happens if You Missed Open Enrollment? Can You Still Purchase Health Insurance ?
If you missed the “Open Enrollment” deadline for the Affordable Care Act these three words will be your new best friend, “special enrollment period.” These special enrollment periods are triggered by “qualifying events.”
A special enrollment period is triggered by qualifying events that are required by law. Most of the time, special enrollment periods last 60 days from the time of the qualifying event.
That means from April 1 until September 30 this year, the only way you’re going to be able to get health insurance is through a special enrollment.
What Are the Qualifying Events?
Below is a decent list of qualifying events that can trigger these special enrolment period:
Losing minimum essential health coverage
Getting married
Divorce
Relocating
New child
Change in income
Medicaid or CHIP
Cobra expiration
Health plan decertified
In order for one of these events to open (unlock) your special enrollment period, you will have to submit some type of formal documentation to the health insurance company you are seeking coverage from to verify the “specialness” of your event.
Open enrollment is simply the mandatory time the government and health insurance companies have set to allow you to apply/buy/enroll for health insurance
When Can You Apply During These Special Enrollments?
In a nutshell you would have 60 days from the qualifying event to find and apply for new coverage.
If you need health insurance outside of the normal open enrollment period, you’re going to want to make sure you have a qualifying event to fall back on. If not, you will have to make sure you apply during the normal open enrollment period.
Please feel free to call and ask all your Affordable Care Act questions.
Please call or email Mackenzie Boyce (Individual Health Insurance Specialist):
Ph: 801-787-3973
Email: MacKenzie@UtahInsuranceSolutions.com
Bret Harding MBA, (Certified Healthcare Reform Specialist)
Ph. 801-372-2647
Email: Bret@UtahInsuranceSolutions.com
Visit Utah Insurance Solutions website to get an instant Utah health insurance quote: www.UtahInsuranceSolutions.com/health_insurance_utah/