The Affordable Care Act marketplace is open this week for a special enrollment period in an effort to help the millions of people who lost their health insurance coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Obviously there isn’t really a good time to be without health insurance, but during a deadly pandemic is definitely one of the worst. In 2019, 29.8 million people were uninsured, according to an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO estimated that about 31 million people did not have health insurance in 2020.
To help address the issue, back in January, President Biden signed an executive order that allows people to apply for federal ACA health insurance plans (colloquially known as Obamacare). “Health care is a right—and I will do everything in my power to ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable care. Starting today, we’re opening a special enrollment period for health insurance,” Biden wrote in a tweet.
“In light of the exceptional circumstances caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall consider establishing a Special Enrollment Period for uninsured and under-insured Americans to seek coverage through the Federally Facilitated Marketplace,” the order reads.
Those who need health insurance can enroll in a plan on the federal marketplace starting this week (February 15, 2021) at healthcare.gov. The site will also tell you if you qualify for certain other benefits or programs, such as Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. This special enrollment period will last for three months, through May 15, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
You can sign up for health insurance during this period even if you lost your previous coverage months ago. And, unlike with other special enrollment periods (for example, when you lose a job), you won’t have to provide documentation to prove your eligibility for this event. Those who signed up for COBRA coverage after losing employer-sponsored insurance can also sign up for a federal plan right now, Kaiser Health News explains. Or, if you want to simply switch from one ACA health insurance plan to another, you can do that during this period as well.
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