Open Enrollment is less than two weeks away.
Open Enrollment for 2016 begins on November 1, 2015-January 31, 2016
Here is the tricky part. If you want your health insurance to begin on January 1, 2016, you have to enroll BEFORE DECEMBER 15 2015. Let me say that again. YOU MUST ENROLL IN HEALTH INSURANCE BEFORE DECEMBER 15 2015 IF YOU WANT HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE ON JANUARY 1 2016. Phew, glad that’s out of my system.
Here is another important detail: If you want to make any changes to your current plan, or if you went through healthcare.gov last year and you need to update your information, this also must happen by December 15. You have just over a month to gather your details and update everything. If you fail to do this, you will be auto-re-enrolled (or whatever you want to call it) in the same policy you had this year. You may be just fine with that. But please be aware, that whether or not you consciously go through your health insurance plan and application, healthcare.gov will do this for you, and your premium will most likely cost you more money this coming year than it did last year. Can I make that clear? Same policy + same details = probably a higher premium. Why does that happen? See blog about why premiums go up. Sooooooo….it may be a good idea to go over your options for this year. Even if you end up picking the same plan, it is worth it to know for sure what your premium will be and that all the benefits you want and need are still available for you.
If you don’t care if you have insurance beginning January 1 2016, then you can wait until January 31 2016 to sign up. However, you need to be aware that enrollment is a lot shorter this year, which means that a lot more people need to enroll in health insurance before the deadline. Which means that if you are using healthcare.gov and their website crashes on the last day because too many people are trying to fill out applications at the last minute, you may have a big headache to deal with. So, please enroll early. Please call our office if we can help you get through healthcare.gov or sign you up with a policy directly through a carrier. Please act quickly.
Health Insurance can be a nightmare, but if you get through the process during enrollment, you will avoid penalties and be able to have the health insurance coverage that you need.
Marissa Gramoll
We assists small groups and individuals in providing and understanding health insurance plans. We have built our business on helping property & casualty agents and financial advisers consult with their clients to have clear health care coverage for their clients.
At our agency, we take your privacy seriously. Unlike big insurance agencies that sell your information to high-pressure agents, we only use it to connect with you personally. This way, we can ensure that you get a plan that's tailored specially for you.
