Consumers seeking health insurance through the Washington Health Benefit Exchange have until Wednesday to sign up for coverage that begins Jan. 1. Open enrollment for 2016 ends Jan. 31.
More than 9,000 calls a day have been coming into the Washington Health Benefit Exchange and a nearly equal number of users have logged in online ahead of Wednesday’s deadline for insurance coverage that begins Jan. 1.
More than 150,000 people have signed up for health plans on Washington’s state-run exchange since the start of open enrollment Nov. 1. The sign-up period runs through Jan. 31.
People who want to make sure they’re covered by the start of the year must sign up by midnight on Dec. 23. But health officials are urging consumers to make the move by 10 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST) because the federal hub, www.HealthCare.gov, will be taken down for maintenance at 1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Dec. 24.
“People can still select plans after 10 p.m. PT, and, if they qualify, will be conditionally eligible,” said Michael Marchand, spokesman for the exchange. “We will just rerun their eligibility when the federal system goes back up the next morning.”
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Of the more than 27,000 enrollments between Dec. 1 and Dec. 15, more than half came from people newly eligible for the exchange versus those who are renewing, Marchand said.
This is the third year of implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the federal law that requires most Americans to obtain health care or pay a fine. In 2016, fines for skipping insurance jump to $695 per adult and $347.50 per child, or 2.5 percent of family income, whichever is higher.
In Washington, it is also the first year that customers using the exchange will send payments directly to their insurance companies, not to the state-run program.
The number of people in Washington without health insurance has dropped to about 600,000, down from 1 million 2013. Nationwide, about 10 million people are expected to be covered by ACA provisions in 2016.