The Obama administration will open enrollment in healthcare.gov again from March 15 to April 30 for uninsured people who will have to pay a penalty under the law’s individual mandate.
The announcement Friday comes in response to calls from Democrats and health advocates to re-open enrollment, which ended on Feb. 15, as most people affected by the penalty may not know they have to pay it. Administration officials noted that this would be a one-time extension.
The second open enrollment period won’t affect exchanges that are run by 14 states. Vermont and Minnesota already extended open enrollment to Tax Day and other exchanges are mulling whether to do the same.
Technically, the penalty went into effect in 2014, but those affected won’t find out they have to pay the penalty until they file their tax returns. While affected uninsured adults still have to pay the 2014 penalty, the open enrollment period is to allow them to get health coverage and avoid the 2015 penalty.
Last year’s penalty is 1 percent of yearly income or $95 per person, whichever is higher. The penalty grows this year to two percent or $325 per person.
To qualify for the special enrollment period, consumers must say they aren’t currently enrolled in coverage, pay the 2014 penalty and state they didn’t know about the penalty until they filed 2014 tax returns, said Andy Slavitt, principal deputy administrator for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, during a Friday call with reporters.
Healthcare.gov has a new tool to help people to find out if they are eligible for an exemption from the penalty. Exemptions are available if a person has various hardships such as filing for bankruptcy, had a family member die, or was a victim of domestic violence
The administration already gave a short extension to Feb. 22 for people already in line get health insurance when the Feb. 15 deadline passed.
The administration declined to offer estimates on how many people will sign up. The Treasury Department has estimated that 6 million people will have to pay for a penalty.
Officials also admitted to an error in the tax form sent out to 800,000 people who purchased insurance under healthcare.gov. The form had the wrong benchmark for healthcare premiums, which are used to calculate the credits.
Slavitt said that 95 percent of those people haven’t filed their tax returns yet and will receive new forms. He emphasized the error, the cause of which is still unknown, won’t affect the vast majority of tax filers.
The Treasury Department will reach out to the remaining 5 percent that already filed, Slavitt said.
