Affordable Care Act special COVID-19 enrollment period extended to Aug. 15
WASHINGTON – The Biden administration announced Tuesday that the special coronavirus pandemic enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act has been extended for an additional three months, until Aug. 15.
The extension means that new and current enrollees for the program, often referred to as “Obamacare,” now have an extra three months to enroll in or change coverage plans. The extension also provides potential access to additional subsidies created by the enactment of the American Rescue Plan, which could reduce coverage costs, The Hill reported.
The federal ACA insurance marketplace is typically open only during an annual six-week enrollment period near the end of the calendar year with temporary exceptions granted throughout the rest of the year due to major life changes, such as a relocation, job loss or birth of a child, The Washington Post reported.
A previous executive order signed in January by President Joe Biden allowed uninsured Americans to enroll in coverage from Feb. 15 through May 15 because of hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The additional financial assistance written into the American Rescue Plan becomes available April 1 and is expected to decrease average individual monthly costs by $50 per month and average policy costs by $85 per month, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Specifically, the American Rescue Plan capped ACA marketplace premiums at 8.5% of income, compared with the roughly 10% cap that had been in place. In turn, people who make more than 400% of the federal poverty level, or about $100,000 for a family of four, will become eligible for financial assistance for the first time under the new guidelines, The Hill reported.
Current ACA marketplace enrollees must log on to healthcare.gov after April 1 and update their applications in order to take advantage of the additional subsidies.
The administration advised, however, that customers who change plans could discover that the amount they have already paid toward meeting their prior plan’s deductible and annual cost-sharing limit may be reset to zero, meaning they would need to start over paying for out-of-pocket expenses, The Hill reported.
According to The Washington Post, more than 200,000 Americans signed up for ACA health plans during the first two weeks of the initial special enrollment period that began Feb. 15.
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