ObamaCare Open Enrollment 2015 ended February 15th, 2015Open enrollment is the only time you can get Minimum Essential Health Coverage for 2015 without qualifying for Special Enrollment. Open Enrollment 2016 will run from November 1st, 2015 – January 31, 2016.
If you are getting cost assistance and your income changes throughout the year, make sure to update the Marketplace. If you take too much or too little in Advanced Premium Tax Credits you’ll have to adjust them at tax time using form 8962.
ObamaCare offers a number of new Benefits, Rights, and Protections
- Stopping insurance companies from denying you coverage or charging you more based on health status
- Stopping insurance companies from dropping you when you are sick or if you make an honest mistake on your application
- Preventing gender discrimination
- Stopping insurance companies from imposing unjustified rate hikes
- Doing away with life-time and annual dollar limits
- Giving you the right to a rapid appeal of insurance company decisions
- Expanding coverage to tens of millions by subsidizing health insurance coststhrough the Health Insurance Marketplaces (HealthCare.Gov and the state-run Marketplaces)
- Expanding Medicaid to millions in states that chose to expand the program
- Providing tax breaks to small businesses for offering health insurance to their employees
- Requiring large businesses to insure employees
- Requiring all insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions
- Making CHIP easier for kids to get
- Improving Medicare for seniors
- Ensuring all plans cover minimum benefits like limits on cost sharing and ten essential benefits including free preventive care, OB-GYN services with no referrals, free birth control, and coverage for emergency room visits out-of-network.
