Guest AuthorWhile the struggle to close the healthcare coverage gap in Florida is getting plenty of attention right now, there’s an important Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) Special Enrollment Period (SEP) deadline coming up this week that deserves its share of attention too.
Many still-uninsured Floridians don’t know that although the ACA Open Enrollment Period ended Feb. 15 they may still qualify to sign up during this SEP, which lasts through Thursday, April 30. Not only can they get the protection and peace of mind that health insurance provides, they can also avoid paying a 2015 tax penalty.
A visit to the ACA Marketplace portal at healthcare.gov will tell you if you qualify, and then walk you through enrolling for affordable, quality coverage. Remember, more than 90 percent of Floridians who signed up during last year’s Open Enrollment were eligible for financial assistance, paying an average of only $68 a month for quality health insurance.
SEP qualification criteria include:
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Not knowing or understanding until after Feb. 15 Open Enrollment deadline that you had to have coverage, or would face tax penalty
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Having had a tax penalty imposed for lack of coverage during 2014
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No enrollment in any kind of coverage in 2015
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Major 2015 life events: marriage, childbirth, relocating, etc.
ACA “Navigators” remain available all over Florida to personally guide you through the straightforward enrollment process and help you get covered before the deadline, free of charge. Just visit https://localhelp.healthcare.gov, enter your zip code and you’re on your way to having affordable health insurance.
By joining more than 1.6 million other Floridians who’ve already enrolled, new SEP enrollees will become part of the success story that has Florida continuing to lead the country in ACA enrollment. That’s a testimonial to pent-up need, and to an effective coalition assembled statewide to facilitate understanding of and enrollment in the ACA marketplace.
Now we need to keep building on that success. Spreading the word about the April 30 SEP enrollment deadline will help. Then if the governor and Legislature reach a compromise in coming weeks to accept ACA healthcare expansion funding, we can close Florida’s coverage gap by insuring hundreds of thousands more people — while also creating tens of thousands of good new jobs and boosting the statewide economy. And that’s a Win-Win we can all be proud of.
Leah Barber-Heinz is CEO of Florida CHAIN, the Community Health Action Information Network. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
