Special enrollment period for health insurance marketplaces
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced on Friday a second enrollment period for people to purchase insurance coverage through the health insurance marketplaces. People can enroll from March 15 to April 30 if they live in states that have federally-facilitated marketplaces.
The original deadline was Feb. 15, but it was extended until Feb. 22 for some people who had trouble using the Healthcare.gov website or state-based marketplace websites.
If people do not purchase insurance by April 30, they may be penalized. The fines for individuals are $395 or 2 percent of their income.
“We recognize that this is the first tax filing season where consumers may have to pay a fee or claim an exemption for not having health insurance coverage," CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner said in a news release. “Our priority is to make sure consumers understand the new requirement to enroll in health coverage and to provide those who were not aware or did not understand the requirement with an opportunity to enroll in affordable coverage this year.”
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.