KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Your evening Valentine’s Day plans might need to include a visit to a government website, if you haven’t signed up for health coverage.
Here is the link for the Health Insurance Marketplace, or healthcare.gov. For people without health insurance through work or another government program, this is where you need to go. Open enrollment started back in November and on Sunday, February 15, 2015, the door will close on that three-month period.
Saturday afternoon, Enroll Wyandotte hosted a clinic to help its residents beat that deadline. Lucia Jones is the project coordinator and she says she’s spent her last twelve Saturdays at the South Branch Library helping answer questions and walking people through the application process. Jones says even if you can’t enroll by the 15th, at least call the Marketplace. It’s the only way you’ll be able to get help after the deadline, but you must call in time.
Jones said, “If they don’t enroll in time, they cannot enroll after the 15th. But if they call tomorrow, and it’s too busy and they cannot get help, the marketplace will keep their contact information and they will call them back after the 15th to get them enrolled.”
The penalties are mandatory for Americans who don’t sign up. You could be looking at two percent of your income or $325 for each adult and $162 for each child – whichever is higher.
Health Insurance Marketplace: Healthcare.gov
Call Healthcare.gov:
Individuals & Families 1-800-318-2596 / TTY: 1-855-889-4325
Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Closed Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day.
Small Businesses 1-800-706-7893 / TTY: 711
Mon – Fri, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET. Closed New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, and Christmas.
Information about penalties for NOT enrolling: https://www.healthcare.gov/fees-exemptions/fee-for-not-being-covered/
