2021 Special Enrollment Period Obamacare Florida

2021 Special Enrollment Period Obamacare Florida

2021 Special Enrollment Period Obamacare Florida

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Affordable care act open enrollment 2021: 2021 Special Enrollment Period Obamacare Dates

Consumers have additional time to take advantage of new savings through the American Rescue Plan.

This action provides new and current enrollees an additional three months to enroll or re-evaluate their coverage needs with increased tax credits available to reduce premiums. 

If you don’t have insurance and you want insurance, it’s open for you until Aug. 15.

The federal government has declared a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) that re-opens the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace from February 15 to August 15, 2021.

More Help to Pay for Health Coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA):

The American Rescue Plan provides financial assistance to help consumers get health insurance through the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace under the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare).

Under the plan, consumers can receive increased premium tax credits to pay for coverage in 2021 and 2022, eliminating or reducing premiums for millions of current Marketplace enrollees to ensure that no one on the exchange spends more than 8.5 percent of their income on coverage premiums, regardless of their income level.

This reduces the current 9.83 percent limit for people with income of 300 to 400 percent of the poverty line and establishes a new premium cap for Marketplace enrollees with higher incomes.

Under the bill, people with income below 150 percent of the poverty line (about $19,000 for a single person and $39,000 for a family of four) would pay no premiums for a benchmark plan, after accounting for premium tax credits. Families who make more will pay a fixed percentage of income toward Marketplace health coverage.

This will significantly reduce premiums for people who are currently eligible for financial help by increasing their premium tax credits. For example:

  • A single individual making $18,000 would pay zero net premium rather than $54 per month (3.6 percent of income) and would qualify for the most generous subsidies for deductibles and other cost-sharing amounts.
  • A single individual making $30,000 would pay $85 rather than $195 per month in premiums (3.4 instead of 7.8 percent of income) and would qualify for a plan with reduced deductibles and other cost-sharing amounts. Or, with the bigger subsidy, the same person could opt to buy a gold plan with lower cost-sharing charges for $115 per month.
  • A family of four making $50,000 would pay $67 rather than $252 per month in premiums for benchmark coverage (1.6 instead of 6.0 percent of their income) and would qualify for generous cost-sharing reductions.
  • A family of four making $75,000 would pay $340 rather than $588 per month in premiums for benchmark coverage (5.4 instead of 9.4 percent of their income). A typical family could purchase a gold plan with lower deductibles and other cost sharing for about $440 per month (roughly 7 percent of income).

An open enrollment period is open now through August 15 for anyone who wants to sign up for health insurance or change their current Marketplace plan.

This open enrollment period gives people a new opportunity to get covered and take advantage of the financial assistance enacted as part of the relief package.

If you are already a customer of the marketplace, it is important that you go into your account and look around because you may be able to save significant money.

We can help you get covered! Learn more about the Special Open Enrollment Period

2021 Special Enrollment Period Obamacare: Streamlines process to qualify for ACA subsidies

The package also enhances premium tax credits (financial assistance) for people who receive unemployment benefits in 2021 by setting their Marketplace eligibility at a projected income levels that guarantee they will get the most generous premium tax credits under an ACA Marketplace plan, regardless of what their actual year-end income ultimately is.

This includes people who have previously found themselves in the Medicaid gap.

The package also eliminates the need to repay ACA subsidies from 2020. Some people lost their jobs early last year but later got new ones and saw higher earnings than they had expected.

Others worked additional hours or received bonus pay as essential workers. Under this plan, low- and moderate-income families are exempt from having to repay the premium tax credit (financial assistance) they received in 2020.

COBRA premiums covered

Under the relief plan, the government would pay the entire COBRA premium from April 1 through Sept. 30, 2021 for those who lost employer-based coverage due to lay-offs or working reduced hours.

A person who qualifies for new, employer-based health insurance someplace else before Sept. 30 would lose eligibility for the no-cost COBRA coverage. Someone who leaves a job voluntarily would not be eligible either.

Incentivizes States to Expand Medicaid Eligibility 

The plan incentivizes states that still have not expanded their Medicaid programs to expand eligibility for adults by increasing matching federal funds (raising the state’s Federal Medical Assistance Percentage by 5 percentage points) over two years.

In Florida, this means more than 500,000 residents in the Medicaid gap (those who currently make too little to receive financial help for Marketplace coverage and make too much to qualify for Medicaid) would finally have access to coverage and the health care at a time when they need it most.

This incentive would pump $2.4 billion new federal dollars into the state in just two years.

States choosing to expand would be required to maintain Medicaid coverage levels to receive the increase, including the newly established requirement to cover COVID-19 vaccine and treatment.

2021 Special Enrollment Period Obamacare Florida: Covers COVID Testing and Treatment

The plan also requires Medicaid and Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage of COVID-19 vaccines and treatment without beneficiary cost sharing.

Vaccines and vaccine administration costs would be matched at 100 percent until one year after the end of the Pandemic Health Emergency.

States also would have the option to provide coverage to the uninsured for COVID-19 vaccines and treatment without cost sharing at 100 percent.

Everyone should have access to COVID testing, treatment, and vaccinations regardless of income, insurance, or immigration status.

Expands Access to Postpartum and Child Health Care

The plan also gives states five years to extend their Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility to include pregnant individuals for 12 months postpartum.

States choosing this option must provide the full Medicaid benefit for pregnant and postpartum individuals during the 12-month postpartum period.

Increased Funds for Home and Community-Based Services

The plan provides temporary one-year FMAP increase to improve home-and-community-based-services as well as FMAP increases for services provided through the Urban Indian Organizations and Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems.

The bill also would provide funding to states for the creation of nursing home strike teams to assist in managing COVID-19 outbreaks when they occur.

Option to create new Medicaid Program for Crisis Intervention Services

The plan gives states five years to creates a new optional Medicaid covered service for adults by offering mobile crisis intervention services for adults experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder crisis.

Have questions about how this plan impacts your coverage options or access to health care?

Free help is available. If you have questions about signing up or want to talk through your options with a trained professional, free help is just a quick call away. Call Call us at 813-964-7100

Or go to Free Quote Health Insurance