Between The Lines: Deadline To Apply For Obamacare Coverage Comes March 31

The deadline is now just days away for Americans to sign up for health insurance coverage or face a penalty at tax time.

Don't panic. There is time enough to get it done, or at least get the process started.

Just getting an application in the works by the deadline may be enough to secure coverage in time to avoid penalty.

The point is to pick up the phone or go online now to meet Monday's long-set deadline for this most basic element of the federal Affordable Care Act. The law affects U.S. citizens who are between the ages of 18 and 64 and not presently insured.

Yes, this is Obamacare, as it has been tagged. Passed in 2009, upheld by the courts and finally being implemented, the law provides access to health insurance that had been unavailable or too costly for many Americans.

Early enrollees are already benefitting from coverage.

Among the quickest to sign up were the 18- to 64-year-olds with pre-existing medical conditions who previously couldn't buy insurance at any price and those with chronic health concerns who might never have had insurance before these more affordable plans became available. (Older Americans are eligible for Medicare.)

Jay Bradford, state insurance commissioner, estimated that about 500,000 Arkansans are thought to be uninsured or under-insured, but they needn't be.

About 240,000 of those, he said, are eligible for this state's private option program that uses Medicaid dollars to help pay for insurance for low-income people.

There is no deadline to sign up for the private option, which is available to anyone who earns up to 138 per cent of the federal poverty rate. More information on the private option is available at https://access.arkansas.gov.

Every other adult should either have some other insurance, such as is provided by an employer, or get signed up through the government program by Monday. Details are available online at www.arhealthconnector.org, or by calling the Arkansas Health Connector Resource Center at 1-855-283-3483. The toll-free call can help locate a licensed insurance agent or a licensed guide in Arkansas to help with the enrollment process.

All that's needed to get started are birth date and Social Security numbers (or document numbers for legal immigrants) for each member of the household plus employer and income information for each.

"With the March 31 deadline just days away, it's important that Arkansans sign up so they can have health insurance coverage by May 1," Bradford said. "And, so they can have the security and peace of mind that comes with having quality health coverage."

Those who can afford insurance and don't sign up now won't be eligible again until November, which means their coverage won't start until next January. And, come tax time next year, they'll pay an income-based penalty for not having health insurance this year. The penalty this time for an individual is $95 or 1 percent of a household's modified adjusted gross income, whichever is greater. That goes up to 2 percent the next year.

Bradford encouraged Arkansas citizens to take advantage of this opportunity to get coverage for themselves and their families.

The plans available through the state exchange are affordable, he said, especially for those who qualify for tax credits.

"Most Arkansans get a good deal," he said, because Arkansas is a lower-income state and families qualify for substantial tax credits to offset the cost of the insurance.

For example, he noted a family of four could earn up to $80,000 a year and still be eligible for some credits. The amount diminishes as income rises.

Bradford suggested anyone who hasn't signed up yet get the process started immediately.

Although there has been no official announcement from the White House, he said that indications are that, if an enrollment is in process, those applications will likely be processed.

Those enrollees "will be able to carry it through," he said, allowing them to get coverage.

He does not expect the Obama administration to shift the deadline, but those applications in the pipeline should get through.

That's the message for the procrastinators out there, who wouldn't get the word except for free media such as this.

State lawmakers decided to put special language on the appropriation for Bradford's agency to prohibit his using tax dollars to publicize the deadline and availability of state help in meeting it.

So pass the word.

Commentary on 03/26/2014

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