Deadline Looms to Get Insured, Avoid Obamacare Penalties

Texas News Service

March 3, 2014

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Deadline Looms to Get Insured, Avoid Obamacare Penalties

Open Enrollment for ACA Plans Ends March 31st

John Michaelson

AUSTIN, Texas – A major deadline looms for those Texans who want to get health insurance this year through the new ACA Marketplace. Open enrollment for plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ends on March 31. Those who fail to get coverage by then will have to wait until mid-November for another chance to enroll, warned Trey Berndt with AARP Texas.

 

“People should know that if they enroll before March 15, the coverage can start by April 1, and if they enroll by the March 31 deadline, the coverage will start May 1. What AARP hopes is that everybody who hasn’t gotten insured will go shop the marketplace now.”

 

Enrollment in the marketplace insurance plans is available online at www.healthcare.gov.

 

Berndt said a majority of the issues that plagued the website upon launch have now been fixed, and more than 200,000 Texans have already signed up for coverage.

 

“Many of those have been able to get help with cost of their coverage. A lot of people are being pleasantly surprised when they get on the marketplace and see what’s available.”

 

There also is a positive trend among young adults, who don’t always realize the need for health insurance, he added.

“Like a lot of us when we were young, they may think they’re invincible. A lot of those guys are starting to shop around and realize that with some of the extra help to lower the cost of insurance, they can get affordable coverage.”

 

Estimates prior to the implementation of the ACA put Texas at about 6 million people with no health insurance, the highest number of any state. Those who do not have coverage in place this year could face a tax penalty, as part of the ACA individual mandate.

 

Enrollment is available online at www.healthcare.gov or by calling 1-800-318-2596.