Open Enrollment for a 2015 Marketplace plan ended February 15, 2015, but you may still be able to get coverage.
DO YOU OWE THE FEE FOR NOT HAVING COVERAGE IN 2014? YOU MAY STILL BE ABLE TO ENROLL IN 2015 COVERAGE IF:
- You didn’t know until after Open Enrollment ended on February 15, 2015 that the health care law required you and your household to have health coverage, or you didn’t understand how the requirement would impact you and your household
- You owe the fee for not having coverage for one or more months in 2014
- You are not already enrolled in 2015 coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace or outside the Marketplace
Please note:
- Even if you get coverage through this Special Enrollment Period (SEP), you may have to pay the 2014 fee for the months you didn’t have qualified health insurance
- You don’t need to have filed your 2014 taxes before enrolling with this SEP—you just have to owe the fee
- If any person in a household meets the criteria for this SEP, everyone in the household can enroll with it
If you have certain life changes you may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period. If you do, you can enroll in a Marketplace plan outside the annual Open Enrollment period.
Life events that may qualify you for a Special Enrollment Period:
- Getting married or divorced
- Having a baby
- Adopting a child or placing a child for adoption or foster care
- Losing other health coverage
- Permanently moving outside your plan’s coverage area
- Gaining citizenship or lawful presence in the U.S.
- Gaining or continuing status as a member of an Indian tribe or an Alaska Native shareholder.
- Leaving incarceration
- For people already enrolled in Marketplace coverage: Having a change in income or household status that affects eligibility for premium tax credits or cost-sharing reductions
You may be able to enroll in coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). There’s no limited enrollment period for these programs, which provide free or low-cost health coverage to millions of these groups, and they can change plans as often as once a month.
If none of these work for you there are other options like short term and accident only plans that can give you a safety net if you cannot get or do not want a qualified health plan. You can also enroll in 2016 health coverage during the next Open Enrollment period. The Open Enrollment period for 2016 is November 1, 2015 to January 31, 2016.
