Covered California offers people more time to pay for their coverage
The California health insurance exchange, called Covered California, has recently witnessed a massive influx of new enrollees which has caused exchange officials to revise the deadline on payments for insurance coverage. Policies sold through Covered California went active on January 1 and that had been the initial payment deadline for those that have received coverage through the exchange. Policyholders will now have more time to pay for their coverage due to a revised payment deadline.
New deadline set for January 15
Covered California has pushed back the payment deadline to January 15. Policyholders must provide their payment by then or lose any coverage they received from the state’s exchange. Officials have opted to push back the deadline in order to reduce the financial strain that new policyholders experience during the beginning of the month. Officials believe that the new deadline will provide consumers with enough time to issue payments and continue receiving insurance coverage.
New enrollees swarm exchange
Another reason that contributed to the revision of the deadline is the influx of new enrollees. Coverage California began open enrollment on October 1, 2013, but relatively few people were able to apply for coverage due to technical issues and other problems with the exchange. By the end of November, some 109,000 people successfully enrolled in Covered California. By the end of December, that number had swelled to more than 400,000.
Insurers also offer extension on payments
The California health insurance exchange has proven quite popular among consumers, but it is not the only organization offering payment extensions. Kaiser Permanente, which provides coverage through the state’s exchange, has also issued an extension for new policyholders that purchased their coverage through the health insurance exchange. The insurer has offered the extension in order to make sure new policyholders have ample time to pay for their coverage and avoid the risk of a lapse in insurance protection.