March 31, 2014 was the last day of open enrollment for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. But enrollment extensions have been granted to certain groups that may have had trouble registering by the deadline. Here is the official guidance on ACA extensions.
According to the guidance, you may be eligible for an extension if you fit in to one of the following categories:
- Exceptional Circumstances, such as a medical emergency or natural disaster
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Misinformation,Misrepresentation,or Inaction by a provider such as a healthcare navigator
- Enrollment Error due to a glitch in the website
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System errors related to immigration status*
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Display Errors on Marketplace website
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Medicaid/CHIP-Marketplace transfer
- Error Messages
- Unresolved Casework
- Victim of domestic abuse
- Other systems error
*Please note that “System Errors related to immigration status” is one of the enumerated reasons that a person could continue to work on their application and try to enroll, even though the March 31 deadline has passed. The guidance notes that applicants who have experienced “An error in the processing of applications submitted by immigrants caused the consumer to get an incorrect eligibility result when they tried to apply for coverage” are eligible for an extended sign-up period, and includes as a specific example “Immigrants with income under 100% of the poverty line who are eligible for premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions did not receive the proper determination.” We know this has been a problem for many immigrants here in NC, so wanted to note specifically that this extension is intended for those ACA applicants.