The Biden government plans to reopen enrollment in many of the Affordable Care Act markets, both to help those who may have lost health insurance during the pandemic and to provide coverage for those who did not have it and now want it. The measure will be announced on Thursday as part of an executive order outlining management’s policies to strengthen health insurance coverage, according to three people familiar with the details.
The so-called special enrollment period is designed to help people who have lost coverage in the past year, but will be open to anyone who wants health insurance for whatever reason, in the 36 states that use Healthcare.gov. The decision was previously reported by The Washington Post.
Typically, Americans without a special circumstance can only buy Obamacare insurance for a six-week period in the fall, a restriction designed to encourage people to maintain coverage even when they are healthy. The subscription period for this year’s coverage ended in mid-December, with subscriptions just slightly higher than last year. But the Trump administration has done little to announce it. The Biden government plans to run a major marketing campaign to announce the new opportunity and encourage people to apply for health insurance, two people said.
The insurance industry, which generally offers strict limits on insurance enrollment, is supporting the extra enrollment period now. About 15 million Americans are uninsured and are eligible for market coverage, according to a recent analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Most would qualify for some form of financial assistance if they purchased such coverage – and about four million could sign up for a high deductible plan that would cost nothing in premiums.
“For the four million people who could have free coverage but don’t have insurance – that, for me, is a cry for reach,” said Cynthia Cox, vice president of the foundation and co-author of the analysis.
It is not yet clear how many people lost health insurance in the past year because of the pandemic, but most Americans of working age receive coverage from their employers and millions have lost their jobs.
Enrollment in Medicaid, the public health insurance program for the poor and disabled, grew substantially during the pandemic. And consumer advocates say that there are also many Americans who did not have insurance before, but may want coverage now because of the public health crisis. Several states that manage their own markets established special enrollment periods last year and recorded an increase in enrollments.