Not every health insurance exchange deadline has passed

health insurance exchange deadlines for rate filings

Last Friday was the official deadline for ACA enrollment but some states have issued extensions.

Americans rushed to their state health insurance exchange to beat the enrollment deadline last Friday. That said, the Trump administration and some state exchanges have announced an extension of the deadline for certain individuals.

This makes it possible for more Americans to obtain the coverage they need in time for the start of 2018.

When Americans phoned the HealthCare.gov service center as of Saturday morning, they were greeted by a recorded message meant to assuage their concerns. “Don’t worry,” it said. Provided they left their phone number ahead of the deadline, they would still receive a return to their call and will still be able to enroll in time for 2018. A similar type of extension was issued to Americans under the Obama administration to ensure that more people who wanted to enroll on time would be able to do so.

Additional deadlines extensions were also issued by the HealthCare.gov health insurance exchange for individuals in certain special circumstances, such as the millions of people affected by the forest fires or hurricanes this year.

Specific states have also issued extensions on their own health insurance exchange websites and centers.

health insurance exchange deadlines for rate filingsFor instance, New Hampshire, Florida and California, among others, have announced that residents had not yet run out of time. Each state has issued its own regulations regarding who is eligible for the extensions to buy their health plans under the Affordable Care Act.

These extended health insurance enrollment deadlines may come in handy for more people than ever this year as the Trump administration had tightened the deadline to make it notably shorter than it had been in previous years. This left many people scrambling to shop for their health plans and coverage for their families. Moreover, it meant that those assisting consumers in their hunt for the right health insurance policy had less time to return phone calls and offer the necessary support.

Interestingly, even though consumers have had less time to head to their state or federal health insurance exchange this year and in spite of the Trump administration’s 90 percent reduction in the marketing budget for the Affordable Care Act, many states are reporting that their enrollment numbers are already way up.

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