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Special enrollment period coming up

The Federally Facilitated Marketplace special enrollment period ordered by President Joe Biden is coming soon: February 15 – May 15, 2021.

The special enrollment period was ordered in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

This will allow individuals and families in states with Marketplaces served by the HealthCare.gov platform to enroll in 2021 health insurance coverage.

The special enrollment period is available to all consumers who are submitting a new application or current Marketplace consumers who are updating an existing application.

Consumers will have 30 days after they submit their eligibility application to choose a plan. Coverage will start the first day of the month following the month in which the plan was chosen. Simply put, since the special enrollment period will not be verified, consumers should be able to select a plan immediately after the eligibility application is submitted (just like during the open enrollment period).

Additionally, as during open enrollment, consumers are not limited as to the plan and/or carrier changes they can make. However, if they change carriers, the consumer will not be able to receive credit toward their annual out-of-pocket maximum.

Enrollments under this special enrollment period can be completed via Health Sherpa. Off-exchange enrollments may be submitted through Blueprint for Agents. Agents should select Other as the special enrollment period reason, and the enrollment will be processed accordingly. When prompted to enter an event date after selecting Other, agents are advised to enter the date on which they are submitting the application.

Reminder: For more guidance regarding members who may have past-due premiums, please see this entry on our agent blog site.

Here are some other resources:

Thanks for all you do to serve your clients and prospects who look to Arkansas Blue Cross and its affiliates for their health coverage.