Federally-facilitated Marketplace enrollment period extended one week

Nov. 26, 2013

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) advised Friday, Nov. 22, 2013, individuals will have an extra week to enroll in coverage effective Jan. 1, 2014. The delay is to account for technical issues experienced with the healthcare.gov website. The original Dec. 15 deadline for people to apply for coverage effective Jan. 1 has been extended to Dec. 23.

The President’s announcement came in response to concerns expressed by individuals and groups who had received notification that their current plan would be discontinued because it was not compliant with Affordable Care Act requirements.

The delay does not change the 2014 open enrollment period which began Oct. 1, 2013, and runs through March 31, 2014.

For 2015 coverage, HHS announced applicants can sign up starting Nov. 15, 2014, rather than Oct. 15, 2014, and have until Jan. 15, 2015, rather than Dec. 7, 2014, to complete the process.

The extension will allow the federally run Marketplace more time to prepare for the next open enrollment period and allow insurers to make appropriate rate decisions.

Where can I find more information?

More information can be found at healthcare.gov.