The Affordable Care Act Open Enrollment period will soon be upon us. Open enrollment begins on November 1st and ends on December 15th for an effective date of January 1st, 2019. If you do not have health insurance currently, and do not or will not have access to employer provided health insurance, this is your opportunity to enroll in an individual plan. If you do not purchase an individual plan by December 15th, you will not be allowed to purchase one again until January 1st, 2020, unless you qualify for a “Special Enrollment Period”, due to a “qualifying event”.
While we no longer have “pre-existing condition exclusions”, as result of both the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) and the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 (HIIPA), enrollment in a health insurance plan is required. For individual plans you must enroll when you become eligible due to a loss in coverage, or during open enrollment. If you work for an employer who provides group health insurance, you must enroll when you become eligible, or wait until open enrollment.
While “pre-existing conditions” are covered, they are only covered if you have a health insurance plan, and you must enroll during your 3 choices (qualifying event, eligible or open enrollment) or you are left with no coverages for any condition, pre-exiting or not.
