If you missed the deadline on Sunday to enroll in health insurance for the new year through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, you now have a few more days to do so, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid said.
People who want ACA marketplace health insurance coverage, also known as Obamacare, to begin Jan. 1 now have until midnight local time Wednesday, Dec. 18 to enroll, a CMS spokesperson said. The original deadline was Dec. 15. Marketplace consumers who enroll after the Dec. 18 extended deadline will have coverage that starts Feb. 1.
Data show the number of new enrollees, or consumers who don’t currently have health insurance through the ACA but are signing up for a 2025 plan, is down 32% from this time last year, said Noah Lang, chief executive of Stride, which helps people find health insurance. On Dec. 4, CMS said nearly 988,000 people had newly enrolled in an ACA plan.
The enrollment extension is only the second one CMS has ever offered, he said. The first time was in 2016.
“This extra three days gives people time to shop,” he said. “Millions (of people) are still not insured or can save money.”
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Why is ACA enrollment down this year?
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