Some states have extended their deadlines, but report solid enrollment outcomes.
Applicants fill out paperwork during a health care enrollment fair at the Bay Area Rescue Mission on March 31, 2014 in Richmond, Calif. Just over 177,000 people applied for health care in California last year.
As the Dec. 15 deadline for signing up for health insurance under Obamacare closes, states are reporting an increase in their enrollment numbers, and some have decided to give consumers more time to pick a health plan. Although Americans have until Feb. 15 to enroll without paying a tax penalty, any applications completed in most states after 3 a.m. - or midnight Pacific time Dec. 15 - will not kick in Jan. 1, 2015, but will instead activated during the following month.
'For the uninsured - many of whom have gone for years without coverage - that means this is the last opportunity to sign up in time to start the new year with the peace of mind that comes with health insurance,' says Anne Filipic, president of Enroll America, a non-profit grassroots organization that helps inform and enroll Americans in health plans.
Under the Affordable Care Act, every American must purchase health insurance or pay a tax penalty. Most Americans have coverage through employers, while seniors are covered by Medicare and low-income residents are covered by Medicaid. Those who fall into the gap - such as small-business owners or self-employed Americans - can buy private, government-subsidized health insurance through online marketplaces or exchanges.
Healthcare.gov isn't the site every American can use - there are separate websites for the District of Columbia and 13 states. Open enrollment, the three-month period during which people can sign up for insurance, began Nov. 15 and will last until Feb. 15. There are some variations in deadlines by state. New York, for instance, has extended its deadline to Dec. 20. Other states announced extensions late Monday.
With some exceptions, most people who enrolled in the marketplaces last year will be automatically re-enrolled in coverage by Monday, and those who do not make changes to their old plan likely will see increases in their premium costs. About 70 percent of those who take the time to shop again on the marketplaces could get a cheaper deal, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
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For 37 states, Healthcare.gov is the go-to website for low- and middle-income Americans to enroll in health insurance. The site, currently in its second year, is now experiencing little if any of the glitches that marked its 2013 debut. Nearly 1.4 million Americans have signed up for new insurance or renewed it through Healthcare.gov, meaning they all will have coverage beginning in the new year. Health and government officials have said they are pleased with this year's enrollment effort.
'Compared to the rough start last year, the experience this year is like night and day,' Filipic says. 'The website is more stable, and thanks to a streamlined application, many consumers are able to complete the process with far fewer clicks than during the first open enrollment period.'
The Department of Health and Human Services projects that as many as 9.9 million will enroll in the marketplace this year, a lower estimate than the Congressional Budget Office had projected. Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, tweeted Monday that if history repeats itself, a flooding in enrollment would occur Monday, but that an even bigger one was likely during the first couple of weeks of February. The federal health agency did not release individual state enrollment numbers, and will not do so until next year, but U.S. News surveyed all 13 individual states and the District of Columbia exchanges to view the progress of each.
The site has suffered some glitches, including one Friday that accidentally diverted some consumers to Medi-Cal who qualified for private plans. The agency said it was aware of the problem and was making sure that those who enrolled on time would still be covered, reported UT San Diego.
The Denver Post reported in early December that some customers were being booted from the site, and agents from the marketplace said they were aware of the issue and working to fix it.
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Idaho: Your Health Idaho has not yet released figures on how many people have enrolled for health insurance this year. The state announced Friday that it would be extending its deadline to Dec. 20 for those who want to begin having access to health insurance during the new year. At the end of November, KTVB, a local Gannett affiliate, reported that some residents were waiting up to an hour to be helped over the phone.
Kentucky: Kentucky emerged as the prototype in 2013 for how to run health insurance marketplaces. As a result, President Barack Obama praised the Kynect website last year during his State of the Union Address. So far this year, 15,140 have either newly enrolled or renewed their enrollment in a qualified health plan, USA Today reports.
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Minnesota: Latest enrollment numbers for MNsure show 14,415 have enrolled for a private health plan, and that 5,318 have enrolled through the state's Medicaid program. Last year the site saw significant glitches, but users say this year the site is significantly improved for people who are enrolling for the first time. Some users are having difficulty re-enrolling, however, reported KSTP, a local ABC News affiliate. Late Monday, the state announced it was extending its deadline to Dec. 20 at 4:30 p.m.
Rhode Island: The state has not released enrollment figures, but residents have longer than most states - until Dec. 23 - to pick a health plan.
Washington State: Washington Healthplanfinder shut down for fixes after its initial launch, and early in December 6,000 accounts of people who had enrolled for coverage were mistakenly canceled. Still, by Monday the agency announced that 55,925 residents had applied for new health insurance or renewed their plans. The deadline to receive coverage in the state by the new year is Dec. 23.
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