Anyone who wants ACA coverage to start for themselves and their household on January 1, 2024 must select a plan on Healthcare.gov or their own state based marketplace by midnight local time tonight (December 15, 2023). If you live in Idaho, today is the last day of Open Enrollment.
Open Enrollment for the rest of the country goes through at least January 15th.
You’ll get one more chance to get coverage but that coverage will start on February 1, 2024.
Finally, if you have ACA coverage this year, today is also the last day to make an active choice out of the automatically re-enrollment scheme that may or may not place you in a plan that you want and like. Go in and check!
On The Road – Paul in Jacksonville – Christmas Past
BretH
Moving from COBRA at the end of the year. Then four months until Medicare. Following your advice I used an agent recommended by our financial planner to help navigate everything and I am so happy I did!
narya
I ended up using the exchange for 5 months this year for the gap between employment and Medicare, and, because I once had to find insurance (for two years!!) in the pre-exchange days, I remain insanely grateful for the ACA and for the people who have fought to pass the legislation, implement it, and continue to try to improve it. Reconciling it all on my taxes this year will be an adventure, but that does not take away from my gratitude one whit.
Yutsano
@narya:
My one wish is to make this stupid thing simpler. It would also be making the excess premium tax credit repayment either less or eliminated. It shouldn’t be the taxpayer’s fault that the premium tax credit wasn’t generous enough to cover you for the year.
lurker
For what it’s worth, Covered California allows for changes/choices/applications up through the end of the month to get coverage for the beginning of the next month. Probably better to get it all done now though.
StringOnAStick
I just found out all the Medicare premiums my father is paying totals to about $2,000/month, which didn’t seem possible. Then I remembered he had been on my mom’s federal employee health insurance, and because she selected options to give herself the maximum monthly pension, he had to go on Medicare at age 83. He had never applied at age 65, so there’s penalties for that, and he was medically underwritten because of that as well and had plenty of pre-existing conditions. Seems high, but at age 91 he has very limited options and is adamant that he will control his own affairs and we kids can all piss off.
He’s the guy who, when the push was on to pass the ACA stated confidently “I don’t know what all the fuss is about, why don’t these uninsured people just get on Medicare?” When I explained that you had to be age 65 to get on Medicare he was shocked to learn that. Yes, he does watch FOX news constantly, why do you ask?
Chris T.
I re-upped a few weeks ago but in the process, discovered that WA state now auto-re-enrolls you. So all I had to do was schedule the January payment.