If you are interested in signing up for medical coverage through the Marketplace, please note that you only have until the end of the open enrollment period (March 31, 2014) to sign up for coverage effective either April 1, 2014 or May 1, 2014. The effective date of your coverage in the Marketplace depends on when your application is submitted and processed.
The only way you will be able to enroll in a Marketplace medical plan outside of the open enrollment period is if you qualify for a “special enrollment” due to a qualifying event. A qualifying event is a change in your life that would make you eligible to sign up for coverage outside of open enrollment such as a marriage, divorce, birth or adoption, moving to a new state, loss of employment or loss of coverage due to changes in employment, etc. With employer based medical coverage, you typically have 30 days from the date of the qualifying event to enroll or make changes to your coverage due to a qualifying event, but the Marketplace allows you 60 days from the qualifying event to make changes.
You can enroll on either Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) at any time during the year as there is no limited open enrollment periods for these programs. You only need to qualify for these programs to be eligible. You can either complete a Marketplace application to find out if you are eligible for either program or contact your state agencies for further information.
The tentative next open enrollment dates for the Marketplace are November 15, 2014 through January 15, 2015, however please note that these dates are subject to change.