ACA Enrollment Deadline Quickly Approaching

Enrollment in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace ended December 15th, 2017. If you live in a federally declared disaster area you are able to enroll until December 31st, 2017. Patients and the public can receive one-on-one help to see if they qualify for the insurance plans and to sign up online or by telephone at any Harris Health eligibility center location. For any questions or to make an appointment at a Harris Health marketplace enrollment site, call 832-393-5423 or email enrolltoday@harrishealth.org.

Texans signing up during the special enrollment period will need to take some extra steps to enroll. The extension is not automatically granted on the healthcare.gov website. Cover Texas Now strongly encourages affected Texans to access local help from trained application assisters for this special process. The process starts with a visit to healthcare.gov and completing a 2018 application, and then calling the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596 to request the special enrollment period. Applicants will need to explicitly state that they currently live in, or at the time of the hurricane lived in, a county on the FEMA list, and that they are requesting additional time to sign up because of Hurricane Harvey.

Texans in hurricane-affected areas who sign up during the special enrollment period through December 31, 2017 will not have to pay a fine on their taxes in 2018 for missing the original deadline.

Local enrollment assistance is still available across Texas. Enrollment programs are listed on connector.getcoveredamerica.org and localhelp.healthcare.gov. People can also call 2-1-1 in many communities to get connected with local enrollment centers.

Texans seeking assistance with enrollment can contact the following local organizations:

Central Texas: getenrolledatx.com

Corpus Christi: cbcil.org/programs/healthcare-navigator-services

El Paso: unitedwayelpaso.org/enroll-el-paso

Gulf Coast: enrollgulfcoast.com

Rio Grande Valley: mhpsalud.org/programs/our-programs/navigator-program/

San Antonio: enrollsa.com

South Plains, West Texas, and Panhandle: spcaa.info/pan-west-tx-navigation.html

North Texas: enrollnorthtexas.org