Still Time to enroll under Affordable Care Act

Less than a week until the 2014 sign-up period for the Affordable Care Act ends. If you miss next Monday’s deadline, you will not have another chance to purchase private health insurance under the plan until November 15, with policies kicking in on New Year’s Day 2015. Lisa Zamosky, a health care reform expert for WebMD, says that people who miss the deadline will have to wait until next year to get coverage, and they face a fine.  “The fine for 2014 is either the greater of $95 or 1% of your household income.”  She says that it is not a good idea for people to wait until the very last minute.  “It isn’t clear that if you start after dinner for example on March 31 and can’t finish the process, whether or not you are going to be able to get yourself insurance.” There are some cases where applicants might get a bit more time. “For some people who are in a position where they have started the application and there have been technological problems or other glitches with the exchanges that have made it impossible for them to sign up, there seem to be some opportunities for extensions.” Zamosky says that it is important for applicants to do their homework when selecting coverage.  “People have questions about whether or not they will be able to see their doctor, what some of their other out of pocket costs will be and that is when it becomes really important to just very carefully examine the plans.” Questions from people who are unemployed who fear they cannot afford coverage are coming in, adds Zamosky.  “What a lot of people are not aware of is that there is a huge amount of financial assistance available to lower the cost of coverage.” The deadline to enroll for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act is March 31 at midnight.