You Can Still Apply for ACA Health Insurance
If you were hoping to apply for a health insurance plan under the Affordable Care Act 2020, you should be aware that the application deadline through Healthcare.gov has been extended.
At the time of this writing, you now have until 3:00 AM EST on Wednesday December 18 to visit Healthcare.gov , complete an ACA, and select the appropriate plan.
Why was the ACA deadline extended? Well, if you were trying to apply for ACA coverage on Healthcare.gov this weekend, you may have experienced major website crashes. After people started reporting that they were unable to complete their applications, the government decided to extend the ACA application deadline.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the following statement :
The main goal of the CMS is to provide a seamless open enrollment process for HealthCare.gov consumers and to ensure that those Americans who require coverage through Exchange can enroll in the plan. With great care to meet the needs of consumers who tried to sign up for coverage in the final hours of open enrollment but may have encountered problems starting at 3:00 pm ET today, December 16, we are extending the enrollment deadline to 1st of January. coverage until 3:00 AM EST on Dec 18. This additional time will give consumers the opportunity to return and complete registrations for coverage on January 1st. Although the website and call center remained open on December 15, and more than half a million consumers registered during the day, some consumers were asked to leave their name at the call center. Those customers who have already left their contact details at the call center do not need to come back and apply during this renewal because a call center representative will be in touch with them later this week.
Important Note: If you live in Washington, DC, or one of the 12 states that does not use Healthcare.gov, this extension does not apply to you. Here are your current ACA registration deadlines, as listed on their respective websites:
California: Complete application by December 20 for coverage starting January 1.
Colorado: Open registration runs from November 1, 2019 to January 15, 2020 Register by December 15 to receive coverage starting in 2020.
Connecticut: open registration EXTENDED to January 15, 2020. Customers can change their plan for 2020 or sign up for coverage that starts February 1st.
District of Columbia: You now have until December 18 to sign up for coverage starting January 1, 2020. Open registration ends on January 31, 2020.
Idaho: Open set for 2020 coverage ends December 16. The last day for choosing a plan is December 23rd.
Maryland: Open enrollment for 2020 medical and dental plans has ended. If you are eligible for Specialty or Medicaid, you can still apply.
Massachusetts: Open enrollment runs from November 1, 2019 to January 23, 2020. If you upgrade to a new plan that begins January 1, 2020, you must complete your plan selection and pay your first installment by December 23, 2019.
Minnesota: open registrations are available from November 1 to December 23.
Nevada: If you applied for admission on December 15th or earlier, you now have until December 20th to complete it.
New York City: The deadline for enrolling in a qualified health plan for 2020 is January 31st.
Rhode Island: December 23, 2019: Deadline for choosing and paying for Continuing Health Coverage in 2020 December 31, 2019: Your most recent day to purchase health coverage for 2020.
Vermont: Open recruiting usually starts November 1st and lasts six weeks.
Washington DC: Register by December 30 to receive coverage starting February 1.