California became the fourth state-run health exchange to offer uninsured residents more time to sign up for Obamacare to avoid further penalties under the healthcare law.
The state’s exchange will offer a special enrollment period from Feb. 23 to April 30 for people subject to the penalty for not having insurance. The extension mirrors one made by the Obama administration earlier for healthcare.gov that runs from March 15 to April 30.
Vermont, Minnesota and Washington have offered similar extensions, and other exchanges such as New York are mulling doing so. Currently 14 states run their own exchanges, with the rest covered by healthcare.gov.
The impetus is to give people who do not know about the penalty for not having health insurance more time to enroll. Such uninsured consumers may not find out about the penalty until they file their 2014 tax returns.
While consumers still must pay the 2014 penalty, having more time to register for health insurance ensures they avoid the higher 2015 fine, California officials said.
The penalty for last year was 1 percent of yearly income or $95 per person, whatever is highest. For this year, the penalty increases to 2 percent or $325.
California’s special period is not an open enrollment, which ended Sunday. It is open only to consumers who faced the 2014 penalty or may face one in 2015, Peter Lee, director of the Covered California exchange, said in a Friday call with reporters.
There is no need to “upload documents or provide documentary evidence of the penalty being paid,” he said.
The state signed up or renewed coverage for 1.4 million people and estimate that about 600,000 would be penalized.
Lee added that the enrollment date is unlikely to be extended again when open enrollment starts in the fall.
