Clarifying Open Enrollment

There has been a lot of confusion about open enrollment for health insurance coverage in the news and on social media and we want to clarify some things and share some news:

  1. Open enrollment to buy coverage for 2018 through the State Health Insurance Marketplaces has been cut from 12 weeks to just 6 weeks, running from November 1 to December 31. However, there are some additional things you need to know:
    1. If you live in one of the states below, your state may have decided to keep open enrollment open longer:
      • California – November 1 to January 31
      • Colorado – November 1 to January 12
      • D.C. – November 1 to January 31
      • Massachusetts – November 1 to January 31
      • Minnesota – November 1 to January 14
      • Washington – November 1 to January 1
    2. If you were affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, or Maria, you also have access special enrollment periods, which extends the time you have to get coverage in 2017 or enroll in coverage for 2018.
      • Group A:
        • Timing: The date of the SEP qualifying event through December 31, 2017.
        • Eligibility: Individuals who experienced an SEP qualifying event between 60 days prior to the start date of the incident period and December 31, 2017 and reside, or resided at the time of the hurricane, in any of the counties declared as meeting the level of “individual assistance” or “public assistance” by FEMA.
        • What to do: Contact the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596.
      • Group B:
        • Timing: December 16, 2017 through December 31, 2017.
        • Eligibility: Individuals who reside in or move from areas affected by a hurricane in 2017, who are applying for 2018 coverage.
        • What to do: Contact the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596 to request an enrollment after December 15, 2017.
  1. Medicare open enrollment occurs each year for people to enroll or switch Medicare plans and prescription drug plans. Medicare open enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7, but the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have announced a special enrollment period to give people more time to enroll due to the recent hurricanes.
    1. Timing: From the start of the incident period through December 31, 2017.
    2. Eligibility: Individuals who reside, or resided at the start of the incident period, in an area for which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has declared an emergency or a major disaster; individuals who do not live in the affected areas but rely on friends or family members who live in the affected areas for help making health care decisions.
    3. What to do: Contact 1-800-MEDICARE to access the special enrollment period. Click here for more information.

Remember, with both Medicare and Marketplace plans, when you sign up for coverage in open enrollment, you coverage won’t actually start before January 1, 2018.

If you need coverage now, visit CancerFinances.org or watch our webinar recording on how to pick a health insurance plan, to see if you have other options.

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