WASHINGTON – Sick of hearing about the problems associated with the health-care law?
Plenty of people have tuned out after all the political jabber and website woes.
But now is the time to tune back in, before it’s too late.
The big deadline is coming March 31.
By that day, for the first time, nearly everyone in the United States is required to be signed up for health insurance or risk paying a fine.
Here’s what you need to know about this month’s open enrollment countdown:
Already covered? No worries
Most people don’t need to do anything. Even before the health-care law passed in 2010, more than 8 out of 10 Americans had coverage, usually through their workplace plans or the government’s Medicare or Medicaid programs. Some have private policies meeting the law’s requirements.
If you’re already covered that way, you meet the law’s requirements.
Need coverage? It’s crunch time
Chances are you’ll hear more reminders about health care this month. The push is on to reach millions of uninsured people.
The administration, insurers, medical associations and nonprofit groups are teaming up with volunteers to get the word out and guide people through the sometimes-rocky enrollment process. They plan special events at colleges, libraries, churches and work sites.
Singing cats, dogs, parrots – even a goldfish – are promoting the message in TV and online spots from the Ad Council.
A big hurdle for the effort: As recently as last month, three-fourths of the uninsured didn’t know there was a March 31 deadline, according to polling conducted for the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Deadline details
There are exceptions. The big one is the Medicaid program for the poor. People who meet the requirements can sign up anytime, with no deadline.
Also, people remain eligible for Medicare whenever they turn 65.
If you are insured now and lose your coverage during the year – by getting laid off from your job, for example – you can use an exchange to find a new policy then. People can sign up outside the open-enrollment period in special situations such as having a baby or moving to another state.
You can choose to buy insurance outside the marketplaces and still benefit from consumer protections in the law.
People who do that wouldn’t normally be eligible for premium subsidies. But in a last-minute change the Obama administration says exceptions will be made for people whose attempts to buy marketplace insurance on time were stymied by continuing problems with some enrollment websites.
Millions won’t get covered
About 12 million people could gain health coverage this year because of the law if congressional auditors’ predictions don’t prove overly optimistic.
Even so, tens of millions still would go without.
That’s partly because of immigrants in the country illegally; they aren’t eligible for marketplace policies.
Some of the uninsured will not find out about the program in time, will find it confusing or too costly or will just procrastinate too long. Some feel confident of their health and prefer to risk going uninsured instead of paying premiums. Others are philosophically opposed to participating.
Figuring out just how many of the uninsured got coverage this year won’t be easy because the numbers are fuzzy.
The administration’s enrollment count includes people who already were insured and used the exchanges to find a better deal, switched from private insurance to Medicaid or already qualified for Medicaid before the changes.
Some who sign up will end up uninsured anyway if they fail to pay their premiums.
