This weekend will be the last chance in 2016 for people to enroll in health insurance on the federal exchange.
Jan. 31 marks the end of the open enrollment period, and Healthcare.gov and the call center are experiencing an uptick in activity for last-minute sign-ups. Enrollment has grown steadily this year as 8.9 million people have selected plans on Healthcare.gov since Nov. 1. In Indiana, 185,100 people have opted to select a plan through Jan. 16.
Yvette Hernandez, an enrollment specialist at Community Hospital, said there has been an increase in people making appointments to enroll in a plan. Navigators are available to assist consumers from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
In a conference call, Andy Slavitt, the acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said that Thursday traffic at Healthcare.gov was 50 percent higher compared to a week ago. The pace of enrollment is ahead of where it was at the same point in 2015, 7.7 million.
Kevin Counihan, CEO of the Health Insurance Marketplaces, said despite the increase in volume, the website and call center continue to operate smoothly. There are no plans to extend the open enrollment deadline due to high traffic volumes, but if a consumer calls to enroll at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, navigators “will make sure they get the coverage they’re looking for,” Counihan said.
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A financial penalty may be driving some of that increase as the cost for not having coverage is more than double what it was in 2015. If a person chooses to forego coverage for more than three months, they will be required to pay $695 or 2.5 percent of their income — whichever is higher.
The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has significantly reduced the rate of the uninsured through the exchange and Medicaid expansion, like Indiana’s HIP 2.0 program, which celebrated its one-year anniversary this week. More than 370,000 Indiana residents have received coverage through HIP 2.0.
For information:
www.healthcare.gov or call 888-318-2596
Community Hospital: 219-934-8888
HealthLinc: 888-580-1060
Community HealthNet: 219-880-1190