Did you hear the news?
The White House via an executive order has authorized a new Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for people to enroll in health insurance coverage starting on February 15th, and will go through August 15th. The rationale for this news comes down to the exceptional circumstances that many Americans find themselves in with the COVID-19 pandemic and access to health insurance coverage.
Before this executive action from the White House , the general Open Enrollment Period (OEP) was from November 1st- December 15th, which gave folks the ability to enroll in a Marketplace plan without any restrictions. Usually, people had to wait to enroll in coverage outside of this timeframe, unless they had a special circumstance such as moving to a new place, getting married, having a child, etc. Even with a special circumstance, folks usually had only a 60-day window to enroll in coverage.
This new SEP will mimic the OEP we had late in 2020, whereby anyone can enroll in health insurance coverage for any reason, without the need to submit proof of a special circumstance. Here in Texas, we use the federal Marketplace as our mechanism to choose a plan, versus other states like in California, which have their own dedicated state-run exchange called Covered California.
Some interesting recent data from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) highlights that nearly 15 million uninsured Americans are eligible to buy coverage through the Marketplace, and 9 million will qualify for a subsidized health insurance plan due to their income.
No matter your situation, we here at The Harrin Group make it easy to get covered with the ability for you to self-enroll in a health insurance plan 24/7, without having to talk to anyone via our “Enroll Online” page here. Should you want more personalized assistance, we encourage you to reach out and get a custom quote today here. Either way, we’ll get you covered.
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Sources: CMS.gov, Healthcare.gov, Covered California, Kaiser Family Foundation