Report on ACA Special Enrollment Period

Posted by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on August 17, 2015

CMS Releases Marketplace Special Enrollment Period Snapshot

Today, CMS released a special enrollment period snapshot which provides information about consumers who selected a plan using a special enrollment period (SEP) between February 23 and June 30, 2015 through the HealthCare.gov platform, which includes 37 states with Federally Facilitated Marketplaces, State Partnership Marketplaces, and supported State-Based Marketplaces. Nearly 950,000 new consumers selected a plan through the HealthCare.gov platform using a SEP between February 23 and June 30, 2015. Today’s Special Enrollment Period Snapshot only reflects plan selection activity and, as such, does not capture whether consumers effectuated their enrollment and continued paying for health insurance coverage following the plan selection.

The next open enrollment period for Marketplace coverage begins on November 1, 2015 for coverage starting on January 1, 2016. Some people can sign up for health coverage outside of open enrollment, before November 1, because they qualify for a special enrollment period (SEP). A consumer can qualify for a SEP for such circumstances as loss of health coverage, losing Medicaid eligibility, changes in family status (for example, marriage or birth of a child), or other exceptional circumstances.

To view the snapshot, visit: http://cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-sheets/2015-Fact-sheets-items/2015-08-13.html