The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced additional steps to help ensure consumers who buy health plans through the Health Insurance Marketplace from experiencing a gap in coverage this January.
“We are providing additional flexibility to consumers across the country to ensure they have access to coverage options that begin on January 1, 2014,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in an agency press release.
Those steps include:
- Insurers are now required to accept payment through December 31 for coverage that will begin January 1.
- Issuers are urged to give consumers additional time to pay their first month’s premium and still have coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2014.
- People enrolled in the federal Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) will have an additional month to extend their coverage if
they have not already selected a new plan. The cut off is now Jan. 31, 2014. - Consumers now have until December 23, instead of December 15, to sign up for health insurance coverage in the Marketplaces that would begin January 1.
- Insurers are encouraged to treat out-of-network providers as in-network to ensure continuity of care.
- Insurers are strongly encouraged to refill prescriptions covered under previous plans during January.
“The Department is committed to providing consumers with the information they need to pick the coverage option that works for them and their families,” said Sebelius.
Under the law, most Americans will be required to have health insurance by January 1, 2014, or they could face tax penalties.
There is a website, HealthCare.gov, and a 24-hour hotline, 1-800-318-2596, to help consumers navigate through all the changes connected to the Affordable Care Act.
