The open enrollment period for individual health insurance plans will start November 15, 2014 and run through February 15, 2015. During this window individuals may enroll in a plan for the first time or make changes to their existing coverage. The open enrollment period applies to policies purchased through our state exchange (Covered California) AND to policies purchased outside the exchange. Applications or changes are only allowed outside of the open enrollment period if an individual has a qualifying event such as marriage, birth or adoption of a child, loss of group coverage, etc.
If you do not currently have health insurance, we recommend exploring your options now so that you will be ready to apply when open enrollment starts on November 15 (the earliest coverage would be effective is January 1.) Although we are hoping for a smoother open enrollment period than last year, we do expect that websites will get overloaded and carriers will get overwhelmed the closer we get to the new year.
If you are currently enrolled in a plan that was purchased off the exchange, you will receive information from your insurance company in the next couple of months about your renewal rates and options. In most cases, if you’re happy with your current plan you will automatically renew into that same plan and pay the 2015 rate. Some carriers, such as Anthem, are tweaking their plans so pay close attention to your renewal letter.
If you are currently enrolled in a plan through Covered California, you will receive correspondence in the next couple of months from them and from your insurance company. The insurance companies are planning to send renewal notices to clients between mid-October and November 1. Those letters are expected to show your current premium, your current subsidy amount (if applicable), and next year’s rate for the same plan (this will be the rate before the subsidy is applied).
Covered California will send out notices with 2015 subsidy amounts sometime between October 10 and December 15. If you are happy with your current plan, AND your income and household size have not changed, you will be automatically renewed into the same plan next year. On the other hand, if you want to change carriers or plans, or if you have a change in your income or household size (that you haven’t already reported), you will need to notify Covered California by December 15.
ALL individual plans will renew January 1, 2015 regardless of when they were purchased in 2014.