Plan Now For Health Insurance Open Enrollment!
Nora Rhoades, Family & Youth Development Agent
If
you haven’t already, it’s time to review your health insurance options, as
annual open enrollment in the Kansas Health Insurance Marketplace (https://www.healthcare.gov) for
2016 coverage begins Nov. 1. Many employers and some public programs, such as
Medicare, also use the fall as a time for annual enrollment or the renewal of
health insurance plans.
Marketplace
enrollment continues through Jan. 31, 2016. The last day to enroll in or change
plans for new coverage to start Jan. 1, 2016, is Dec. 15. The last day to
enroll in or change plans for new coverage to start Feb. 1, 2016, is Jan. 15.
If you wait to enroll by Jan. 31, that coverage will take effect March 1, 2016.
While
there are a few exceptions, the Affordable Care Act requires that you are
insured for at least nine months out of every year, or you will have to pay a
penalty at tax time for being uninsured.
Generally,
you can only buy health insurance coverage during annual open enrollment
periods. It is difficult to change coverage if you don’t experience a
qualifying life event, so it’s best to take advantage of the open enrollment
period. If you experience a qualifying life event (https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/qualifying-life-event/), such
as losing job coverage, getting married or having a child, you can change your
health insurance outside of the open enrollment period in a special enrollment
period.
Specifications
for enrollment in health insurance coverage, by type of coverage, include:
·
Insurance
coverage through an employer: your employer determines the open
enrollment dates. The dates vary from employer to employer. If you have a
spouse, you will likely have two different open enrollment periods to keep
track of each year. If you are not sure when your next job-based open
enrollment period is, ask your employer.
·
Insurance
from the marketplace: the marketplace open enrollment period
is Nov. 1, 2015 through Jan. 31, 2016.
·
Insurance
through Medicare: Medicare’s initial enrollment period is a
seven-month window surrounding your 65th birthday, or for those
under 65 and disabled, the seven months surrounding the 25th month
of disability. Special enrollment periods for Medicare vary, and specific rules
and timing can be found on the Medicare website (http://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/11219.pdf). If a
beneficiary has missed the initial enrollment period and is not eligible for a
special enrollment period, the Medicare general enrollment period runs Jan. 1
to March 31 each year, with coverage beginning July 1 of that year.
·
Insurance
though KanCare: this is Kansas’ Medicaid program. Applications for
KanCare can be submitted at any time.
Delays
in enrollment and coverage, and penalties, may apply if the consumer does not
enroll at the appropriate time. If obtaining insurance through the marketplace,
log on to www.healthcare.gov. To
learn more about how to enroll in the marketplace or KanCare, call the
marketplace, available 24/7, at 800-318-2596. The Kansas Health Institute also
has resources on its website (http://www.khi.org/).
