Special Enrollment Period

Special Enrollment Period in Response to the COVID-19 Emergency

In accordance with the Executive Order issued by President Biden, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is providing a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for individuals and families to apply and enroll in the coverage they need during the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s what you need to know:

Consumers Who Are Currently Uninsured

• Between February 15 and August  15, individuals and families who want to take advantage of this SEP can find out if they are eligible by visiting healthcare.gov/coronavirus or beWellnm.com.
• Consumers who are eligible and enroll during this SEP will be able to select a plan with coverage that begins the first of the month after plan selection.
• Consumers will have 30 days after they submit their application to choose a plan.

Consumers Who Already Have Coverage through healthcare.gov (the Exchange)

• Consumers who already have coverage can change or update their coverage.
  • Current enrollees will be able to change to any available plan in their area, without restriction, with the same level of coverage as their current plan.
  • To use this SEP, current enrollees will need to step through their application and make any needed changes to their current information and submit their application.
  • Enrollees will then receive an updated eligibility result that provides the SEP before they can continue on to enrollment.
• This SEP opportunity will not involve any new application questions or require consumers or enrollment partners to provide any new information not otherwise required to determine eligibility and enroll.
• In addition, consumers won’t need to provide any documentation of a qualifying event (e.g., loss of a job or birth of a child), which is typically required for SEP eligibility.

More Affordable Health Coverage May Be Available to You

President Biden recently signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law. The new law will lower premiums for most current on-exchange members and expand access to financial assistance for individuals who wish to enroll on the Marketplace (healthcare.gov).

Starting April 1, 2021, new and current on-exchange members and individuals who buy health insurance from the Marketplace may become eligible to receive increased tax credits to reduce their premiums. Learn more at healthcare.gov or download our flier.

Are You Looking for Off-Exchange Individual/Family Coverage?

Visit our Individual Shopping page to learn more and browse our plans.