Some states have extended their deadlines, but report solid enrollment outcomes.
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| Applicants fill out paperwork during a health care enrollment fair at
the Bay Area Rescue Mission on March 31, 2014 in Richmond, Calif. Just
over 177,000 people applied for health care in California last year. |
As the Dec. 15 deadline for signing up for
health insurance
under Obamacare closes, states are reporting an increase in their
enrollment numbers, and some have decided to give consumers more time to
pick a health plan. Although Americans have until Feb. 15 to enroll
without paying a tax penalty, any applications completed in most states
after 3 a.m. – or midnight Pacific time Dec. 15 – will not kick in Jan.
1, 2015, but will instead activated during the following month.
“For
the uninsured – many of whom have gone for years without coverage –
that means this is the last opportunity to sign up in time to start the
new year with the peace of mind that comes with health insurance,” says
Anne Filipic, president of Enroll America, a non-profit grassroots
organization that helps inform and enroll Americans in health plans.
Under the
Affordable Care Act, every American must purchase health insurance or pay a
tax penalty. Most Americans have coverage through employers, while seniors are covered by
Medicare and low-income residents are covered by
Medicaid.
Those who fall into the gap – such as small-business owners or
self-employed Americans – can buy private, government-subsidized health
insurance through online marketplaces or exchanges.
Healthcare.gov isn't the site every American can use – there are separate websites for the
District of Columbia and 13 states.
Open enrollment, the three-month period during which people can sign up
for insurance, began Nov. 15 and will last until Feb. 15. There are
some
variations in deadlines by state. New York, for instance, has extended its deadline to Dec. 20. Other states announced extensions late Monday.
With
some exceptions, most people who enrolled in the marketplaces last year
will be automatically re-enrolled in coverage by Monday, and those who
do not make changes to their old plan likely will see increases in their
premium costs. About 70 percent of those who take the time to shop
again on the marketplaces could get a cheaper deal, according to the
Department of Health and Human Services.
[
READ: Obamacare Premiums Will Rise, But Officials Optimistic About Site Fixes]
For 37 states, Healthcare.gov is the go-to website for low- and
middle-income Americans to enroll in health insurance. The site,
currently in its
second year,
is now experiencing little if any of the glitches that marked its 2013
debut. Nearly 1.4 million Americans have signed up for new insurance or
renewed it through Healthcare.gov, meaning they all will have coverage
beginning in the new year. Health and government officials have said
they are pleased with this year’s enrollment effort.
“Compared to
the rough start last year, the experience this year is like night and
day,” Filipic says. “The website is more stable, and thanks to a
streamlined application, many consumers are able to complete the process
with far fewer clicks than during the first open enrollment period.”
The Department of Health and Human Services
projects
that as many as 9.9 million will enroll in the marketplace this year, a
lower estimate than the Congressional Budget Office had projected.
Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation,
tweeted
Monday that if history repeats itself, a flooding in enrollment would
occur Monday, but that an even bigger one was likely during the first
couple of weeks of February.
The federal health agency did not
release individual state enrollment numbers, and will not do so until
next year, but U.S. News surveyed all 13 individual states and the
District of Columbia exchanges to view the progress of each.
California:
More than 290,000 new consumers submitted applications and were
determined eligible for private health insurance or Medi-Cal, the
state’s Medicaid program, in the early weeks of open enrollment,
Covered California and the California Department of Health Care Services
announced Wednesday. Last year’s enrollment and applications after a month totaled just over 177,000.
The
site has suffered some glitches, including one Friday that accidentally
diverted some consumers to Medi-Cal who qualified for private plans.
The agency said it was aware of the problem and was making sure that
those who enrolled on time would still be covered, reported
UT San Diego.
Colorado: The state's website,
Connect for Health Colorado, announced Thursday that 24,811 individuals and families have
signed up for private health insurance coverage.
About one-third are customers new to the marketplace and the rest are
customers re-enrolling in coverage for 2015. In addition, 3,642
Coloradans have enrolled in dental insurance.
The Denver Post reported
in early December that some customers were being booted from the site,
and agents from the marketplace said they were aware of the issue and
working to fix it.
Read More
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/12/15/a-state-by-state-look-at-exchanges-as-obamacare-deadline-looms
