An Obamacare sign is seen outside the leading insurance agency that offers plans under the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) on January 28, 2021 in Miami, Florida.
Joe Rydle | Getty Images
Millions of people in the US are at risk of losing Medicaid this year when coverage protections made during the COVID-19 pandemic expire in April.
To make it easier for these individuals to transition to other coverage, the Department of Health and Human Services has announced a special enrollment period for Obamacare.
People who lose Medicaid coverage from March 31 to July 31, 2024, can apply for Obamacare outside the normal enrollment period. healthcare.gov if they live in a state served by the federal marketplace, According to the new guidance from HHS.
Most states, 33 in total, use healthcare.gov as their insurance marketplace. The 17 states that run their own marketplaces may impose a special enrollment period but are not required to do so.
Individuals who lose Medicaid will not have to provide any additional documentation to shop for Obamacare. The application will only ask them if they have lost Medicaid coverage.
Consumers have 60 days to choose a health insurance plan after submitting their application. Once they choose a new plan, the coverage will start from the first day of the following month.
Typically, consumers have to submit life change documents to apply for health insurance outside of the open enrollment period, but HHS is streamlining the process for those who lose Medicaid.
Medicaid enrollment accelerated during the pandemic after Congress basically banned state governments from taking people out of the program For the duration of the public health emergency.
Enrollment in Medicaid grew 28% from February 2020 to nearly 84 million as of September, According to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services,
Congress passed a federal spending bill in December that separated Medicaid coverage protections from public health emergencies. States can begin rolling back coverage for people in April if they no longer meet eligibility criteria or are unresponsive to information requests.
HHS has estimated that 15 million people will lose Medicaid coverage after the pandemic-coverage protections expire. eight million of those would need to transition to other forms of coverage, according to HHS estimates, but 6.8 million would lose Medicaid while still being eligible for the program, according to HHS,
States are required to make a good faith effort through more than one communication method to contact the individual whose eligibility is being reviewed.