Affordable Healthcare Act: Enrollment Deadline

If you missed the February 15 enrollment deadline for health insurance coverage to start February 1, 2014 under the Affordable Health Care Act, take heart.  If you are among the uninsured, you have until March 31, 2014 to get coverage before you are penalized.

After the deadline, persons who opt not to obtain health insurance will have to pay a fee known as the "individual responsibility payment" and will be responsible for their own medical care. For 2014, the penalty is calculated at 1% of the individual's income or at $95 for adults and $49.50 for children under 18 years. Paying the penalty does not provide insurance coverage so the individual is still responsible for his own medical bills.  Remember that if your income falls below the income guidelines, you may be eligible for premium payment assistance.


The Affordable Health Care Act rolled out amidst much political controversy.  Meanwhile, health care agencies, insurance companies and state governments, braced, prepared for and worked tirelessly in the background, without fanfare, to meet the requirements of the law.  Open enrollment began on October 1, 2013 and ends March 31, 2014.

The government launched the Healthcare Marketplace website. Designed for the uninsured to be able to look up and pick the health insurance that is right for them, the website was filled with glitches making the experience so frustrating for the consumer.  Government webmasters scrambled to fix the bugs and happily they did.  You can go to the Healthcare Marketplace website and find the marketplace for your state.  Once you get to the state marketplace site, be prepared to spend a few hours negotiating the system (at least in my home state, Missouri) and to supplement the inquiry with phone calls to the help desk.  My experience is that, once enrolled you may also have to wait a few hours/day before you can pay the premium.  Be patient and it will be worth it.

Health insurance plans are required to have a uniform set minimum covered services so it will be easier to compare plans.  The premiums and offerings are listed for four different tiers (bronze, silver, gold and platinum-although many plans do not offer platinum.)  The idea is to build in transparency in the insurance offering process.

For a quick overview of the healthcare marketplace, click on this one page outline at Healthcare.gov.