The deadline for enrolling in Obamacare is today (Monday!) for those who want to have health insurance under the program starting on Jan. 1, 2015.
If you are picking a plan for the first time, you must do so by midnight Pacific Time, 2:00 AM Central, or 3:00 AM Eastern. However, if you have an existing plan, in most states (there are some exceptions) you will automatically be renewed for that plan in 2015. If you would like to make changes to an existing plan, the deadline for making those changes is Feb. 15, 2015.
Several states have extended deadlines for new enrollees, including: Maryland (Dec. 18), Massachusetts (Dec. 23), Rhode Island (Dec. 23), and Washington State (Dec. 23). Idaho has been reported to have a Dec. 23 deadline on many sites, but it appears to have a Dec. 20 deadline instead.
Confirmed enrollment for 2014 plans was about 7 million and the White House aimed to put 9 million on the rolls in 2015. Health insurance analysts expect the government to surpass that goal based on current enrollments thus far.
[Caroline Pearson of Avalere Health] said sign-ups are on track to “far exceed” the Obama administration’s 9 million projection, made just before open enrollment began in November. If enrollment continues at this pace, she said, the federal and state exchanges should enroll between 4 and 5 million new participants, she said. That’s in addition to 6.7 million who got coverage for 2014, many of whom are expected to re-enroll for 2015.
Kaiser notes about 1.5 million confirmed new enrollees for 2015 so far (in addition to some 7 million from 2014). But the
estimated total of new enrollees stands at closer to 3.85 million.
