By Deana Lemmon, LTCP
Unless you were hiding out deep in the Quehanna Wilds, you know that thousands of Pennsylvanians have been impacted by Covid-19. You could very well be among those who have lost their job and their employer-sponsored health insurance. Everyone knows that the deadline for the Health Insurance Marketplace Annual Enrollment Period for 2020 was on December 15, 2019. What now?
It has been said that things don’t change, we change. The advent of Covid-19 has proven to be an incredible agent of change in the lives of millions across the globe. If you are a Pennsylvanian in transition because of Covid-19, you find may yourself among those who do qualify under a Special Enrollment Period or SEP (they do love their acronyms) for health insurance enrollment beyond the Annual Enrollment Period.
“What do I need to do to qualify for a Special Enrollment Period,” you may ask? The information regarding SEP is laid out very well at healthcare.gov/coverage-outside-open-enrollment/changing-plans/ We can think of a Special Enrollment Period as a defined period of time outside of the yearly Open Enrollment Period when people can sign up for health insurance. These time periods are further defined by qualified life events.
Life is always changing and people should be able to adapt to those events. There are many
circumstances that do qualify individuals to sign up for health care insurance beyond the Annual
Enrollment Period, hence the Special in SEP:
• In the past 60 days, did you get married?
• In the past 60 days, did you have a baby, adopt a child, or place a child for foster care?
• In the past 60 days, did you get a divorce and lost your health insurance?
• In the past 60 days, did someone on your plan die and as a result are you no longer eligible for
health insurance?
• Have you moved?
• You may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period if you or anyone in your household lost
qualifying health coverage in the past 60 days or expects to lose coverage in the next 60 days.
o Did you lose job-based coverage?
o Did you lose individual health coverage for a plan or policy you bought yourself?
o Did you lose eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP?
o Did you lose eligibility for Medicare?
o Did you lose coverage through a family member?
Special Enrollment Periods exist to help people in transition adapt their health care insurance to their
new circumstances. And while missing the deadline for the Annual Enrollment Period is a significant
barrier for some; there are special qualifying life events that can trigger the Special Enrollment Period. If
you believe that you may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period for enrolling in a health insurance plan
outside of the yearly Annual Enrollment Period, please visit healthcare.gov and make your inquiry today