The deadline for Alaskans to enroll in the Health Insurance Marketplace for coverage beginning Jan. 1 has been extended to midnight Dec. 19, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid. Deadlines for enrollment were extended because of high traffic on the healthcare.gov website, which hosts the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Those who enrolled in health insurance through the marketplace for 2016 are encouraged to confirm their re-enrollment at healthcare.gov and update their income to receive the correct health insurance subsidies.
Those interested in enrolling for 2017 will have other opportunities before enrollment through the marketplace is closed for the year. Plans applied for between Dec. 19 and Jan. 15 will be effective Feb. 1. Plans applied for between Jan. 16 and Jan. 31 will be effective March 1.
Moda Health insurance plans are not offered to Alaskans in 2017. Those who enrolled in an individual Moda Health plan for 2016 are eligible for a special enrollment period starting Dec. 20, and ending December 31. Moda Health enrollees have until December 31, 2016 to make any updates or changes to their application and/or plan choice for these updates to take effect by January 1, 2017.
The marketplace is available to all Alaskans that are interested in shopping for an individual health insurance policy. If you are interested in enrolling, you can contact Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) Outreach & Enrollment at 907-966-8662 or 907-966-8883. You can also contact the Health Insurance Marketplace directly by calling 1-800-318-2596.
Additional help can be found at Enroll Alaska, a resource for questions regarding the Affordable Care Act. Information can be found at www.enrollingalaska.com or by calling, 1-855-385-5550.
