Special enrollment period added for health insurance

Anyone who did not enroll in a health insurance plan during the Marketplace open-enrollment period may have a reprieve.
The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have added a special enrollment period for individuals and families who did not have health coverage in 2014 and may be required to pay the shared responsibility payment when they file their 2014 taxes.
This special enrollment period, which runs March 15 through April 30, will allow those people to enroll in 2015 health insurance coverage through the Marketplace.
According to Steve Todd, health officer for the tri-county health department, people eligible for the special enrollment period must be Michigan residents not currently enrolled in coverage through the Marketplace for 2015; they can attest that when they filed their 2014 tax return, they had to pay a fee for not having health coverage in 2014; and they did not understand that a fee would be imposed as part of their 2014 tax filing until after the open enrollment period closed on February 15.
St. Joseph County residents wishing to schedule an appointment with a certified navigator can call the agency’s Three Rivers office at 273-2161, ext. 0104.