President Barack Obama’s health care experiment proved to be a challenge for the nation and an opportunity for millions of people to become insured. Monday is the last day to enroll in the federal subsidy healthcare insurance exchange.
People who do not have health insurance and do not get coverage will be penalized. In 2014, an individual will be taxed 1 percent of that person’s income or $95, whichever is greater. In 2015, the penalty is 2 percent or $325. By 2016 and subsequent years, the penalty is 2.5 percent of that person’s income or $695, whichever is greater.
“There seems to be an increase in activity; this week has been aggressive,” said Larry Deutsch, vice president at Florida Health Connector. “We’ll keep enrolling until the last day.”
Using a 2010 census, it is estimated about 38,000 people in
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliate facilitated several informational seminars throughout the region about the Affordable Care Act and what it means.
At every 30-minute seminar, a two-hour question and answer session followed. The complicated details of the law had to be stripped to basic terms, something not always easy.
“The biggest challenge was for someone who has never had insurance — they have to figure out what it is and why they might need it,” Deutsch said. “And we have to explain to them how it has changed from its usual form” and “relate your personal life to your personal need for insurance. That was a big step.”
After a roiling episode of website glitches, one million shy of its goal of 7 million, the Obama administration was still able to crawl toward 6 million enrollees by the end of the open enrollment period.
It’s still unclear how many people have enrolled at the exchange. People could apply, but neglect to make the first payment toward insurance, meaning they did not actually enroll.
“We won’t know for some time who actually followed through,” Deutsch said. “We think we had an impact in the marketplace; we’ve really reached a number of people this year and we’re looking forward to the second year.”
What you need to know
— The deadline is Mar. 31 at midnight EDT for the states where the federal government is running the sign-up website; states running their own exchanges set their own deadlines.
—You can call 1-800-318-2596 to sign up by phone or get help from an enrollment specialist.
—Check online for sign-up centers that may be open locally, offering in-person assistance.
—If you started an application by Monday but didn’t finish, perhaps because of errors, missing information or website glitches, you can take advantage of a grace period. The government says it will accept paper applications until April 7 and take as much time as necessary to handle unfinished cases on HealthCare.gov.
—Be prepared for the possibility of long wait times.