Those in the state who still have not obtained health insurance, there is still a small amount of time.
Oregonians who have not yet complied with the Obamacare regulations by purchasing health insurance coverage will still have another month to buy their plans, due to the broad range of various technical problems that were experienced by users of Cover Oregon.
While most of the rest of Americans had their deadline on Monday, the enrollments continue in Oregon.
The federal government provided Oregon with the longest break when it came to lengthening the Obamacare enrollment period. The reason is that this is the only state in which the insurance exchange website still isn’t making it possible for people to be able to complete the entire enrollment process all in one session. The extension is for thirty days beyond that of the rest of the country, giving the people of Oregon until April 30 to be able to enroll.
This change in the Oregon deadline for Obamacare was announced by Governor John Kitzhaber.
The deadline change for the Affordable Care Act impacts people who are uninsured and must purchase private health insurance coverage. According to Ariane Holm, the public relations specialist for Cover Oregon, it will not apply to those who are eligible for the state’s version of Medicaid, called the Oregon Health Plan. The reason is that they are able to enroll at any time of the year.
Once an application has been completed through the use of the state’s insurance exchange, it takes about 10 days to hear back from the agency, said Holm. If an application has been made through that website before April 30, they will be exempt from a possible tax penalty as long as they then enroll in a Cover Oregon plan, according to Holm.
Those who apply and then purchase their plans outside of the Obamacare insurance exchange website between April 1 and 30 may be required to pay a partial federal tax penalty. That penalty would most likely be pro-rated for the full month of April and would be approximately one twelfth of the annual penalty of $95.