With recent poll results showing that nearly two-thirds of Americans were unaware of the ACA’s March 31 deadline to sign up for health insurance, it is hardly surprising that the Obama administration has announced a special enrollment period that will temporarily exempt consumers from the individual mandate penalty.
Consumers who attempt to sign up for health insurance on the federal marketplace ahead of Monday’s deadline will have the option to request an extension through mid-April online and by phone. The initial extension will apply to any user who has attempted to enroll, regardless of when they began the process or the circumstances surrounding their failure to complete the process.
This move will not only account for potential surges in the system from last-minute enrollments but will also give some leeway to consumers who have previously encountered Web site issues or who have had other difficulties during the enrollment process. Administration officials are using the honor system rather than following up with each extension request.
The requirements for gaining an extension will tighten in mid-April: consumers will have to contact a call center and their reason for requesting the extension must fall into a smaller subset of circumstances such as a change in life situation (birth/divorce) or employment (losing a job that offered health insurance).
However, subsequent polling questions suggest that the extension may not be entirely necessary. Roughly half of the uninsured respondents to the Kaiser Health Tracking Poll also responded that they would remain uninsured despite the fine, which was mentioned in the question. This correlates to public opinion about the ACA, which is still polling at nearly 50 percent disapproval.
To date, roughly five million consumers have enrolled in a healthcare plan using either the federal marketplace or one of 14 state marketplaces.
PRN Funding provides healthcare factoring services to help companies offset the cost of providing health coverage. Contact us to learn more and get started today.
