Open Enrollment for 2014 Ends on March 31, but Some People Qualify for Special Enrollment Periods

Tens of thousands of adults in families over the poverty level are going to lose their BadgerCare coverage in April and need to convert to private plans offered through the federal Marketplace because of choices made by state lawmakers.  Fortunately, federal rules provide an accelerated effective date for the initiation of their new coverage, which means that people losing their BadgerCare or HIRSP insurance have until March 31 to get a Marketplace plan and avoid a gap in their coverage.

Generally speaking, people who are uninsured or underinsured have to enroll in a Marketplace plan by the 15^th of the month in order to have their new coverage start the following month.  In addition, their open enrollment period for signing up for Marketplace coverage ends on March 31.  However, people who currently have “minimum essential coverage,” such as BadgerCare, HIRSP or most employer plans, and who are losing that coverage, have additional flexibility in two important respects:

• They have a “special enrollment period” (SEP) that gives them 60 days (from when their coverage ends) to sign up for a Marketplace plan (rather than shutting them out until the next open enrollment period begins on November 15).
• Also, regardless of when they sign up during the month, their coverage takes effect on the first of the next month.

Until very recently, I was unaware of the accelerated effective date of Marketplace plans for people who are losing their current coverage.  We have corrected that omission in WCCF’s one-page table explaining the key dates relating to BadgerCare and ACA implementation:  Be Aware of the Ides of March.

People who are eligible for public programs like BadgerCare and Medicaid can sign up at any time.

Go to HealthCare.Gov for more information about Marketplace coverage or to sign up today!

Jon Peacock