Open enrollment for individual insurance has now ended - this means without the presence of a special enrollment period you won’t be able to procure individual health insurance until the beginning of 2016.
Special enrollment periods open up for an individual when there is a qualifying life event such as marriage, divorce, relocation or birth of a child. However, in a press release this morning the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new special enrollment period (SEP). Per the release, individuals who did not have insurance in 2014 and therefore are receiving a penalty when filing their taxes have an extended window to sign up for 2015 coverage from March 15 thru April 30.
To be eligible for this SEP an individual must have 4 qualifications:
1. You must live in a state that uses a Federally-facilitated Marketplace. (PA does this)
2. You must not be currently enrolled in coverage through the Marketplace for 2015.
3. You must have paid a fee for not having coverage in 2014.
4. You must attest that you first became aware of, or understood the implications of the new health care laws after the annual open enrollment ended on February 15, 2015.
You can read a little bit more and get the details here:
http://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-releases/2015-Press-releases-items/2015-02-20.html
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