More state-run exchanges are following the Obama administration’s lead, giving uninsured residents additional time to sign up for health coverage and avoid hundreds of dollars in penalties.
New York became the fifth state Friday to extend its enrollment period to accommodate such consumers, joining California, Minnesota, Vermont and Washington.
Fourteen states run their own insurance exchanges, with the rest being covered by the federal government’s healthcare.gov. On Friday, the Obama administration decided to create a special enrollment for those states.
The additional enrollment period for New York will run from March 1 to April 30. California will give consumers from Feb. 23 to April 30; Minnesota and the Obama administration will give them from March 15 to April 30; Washington until April 17; and Vermont until May 31.
The special enrollment periods extend through Tax Day on April 15 because most people won’t become aware they owe a penalty until they file their tax returns. The extensions will allow consumers to buy health plans to avoid the 2015 penalty, which is double last year’s fine.
An uninsured person that didn’t have health coverage in 2014 must pay 1 percent of yearly income or $95, whichever is higher. In 2015 the penalty rises to 2 percent or $325.
The other nine states that run their own exchanges have not said whether they will extend their enrollment periods for the uninsured. Many states and healthcare.gov gave short-term extensions, but only for those already in line when the original open enrollment deadline lapsed on Feb. 15 or for delays due to severe weather.
Obama administration officials declined to offer firm figures on Friday on how many people still need to sign up to avoid the penalty. The Treasury Department has estimated that six million people across the country could be eligible for the penalty.
The decision to extend Obamacare signups didn’t sit well with some Republican leaders, who also sharply criticized the administration’s blunder of sending the wrong tax forms to 800,000 healthcare.gov customers.
“Whether it’s providing taxpayers with incorrect subsidy information or having to create special enrollment periods so that taxpayers can avoid costly penalties, Obamacare continues to frustrate and confuse Americans,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
“This is just more proof why Obamacare’s insertion of the IRS into the health care decisions of Americans was a colossal blunder,” said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., vice chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee announced Friday it that it will hold a hearing on the error and Obamacare enrollment on Feb. 26.
