12,764 people in Hawaii signed up for coverage through HealthCare.gov
Less than 11 days remain before final enrollment deadline for 2016 coverage
From US Department of Health and Human Services January 20, 2016
Since Open Enrollment began on November 1, about 8.8 million consumers signed-up for health coverage through the HealthCare.gov platform or had their coverage automatically renewed, including 12,764 Hawaii. Today’s enrollment snapshot includes the number of people who selected a plan or were automatically reenrolled within local media markets. This localized data provides another level of detail to better understand total plan selections within local communities.
As of January 16, 12,764 consumers in the Honolulu local media market area selected or were automatically enrolled in a plan.
“As expected, consumer interest is beginning to increase again as we near the deadline for 2016 coverage,” HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said. “We know we have more work to do and as we count down to the January 31 final deadline, we’re focused on making sure consumers understand that they must act soon to find affordable health coverage and avoid the fee for choosing to not have health insurance in 2016. Consumers should know that we’re here to help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
Open Enrollment for 2016 coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace began Nov. 1, 2015, and runs through January 31, 2016. Consumers who enroll by January 31 will have coverage effective March 1. Having health insurance when you can afford it is now the law. If someone chooses not to buy health insurance and could afford to do so, they are at risk of paying a fee of $695 or more. Consumers are encouraged to visit HealthCare.gov to review and compare health plan options and find out if they are eligible for financial assistance, which can help lower monthly premiums and reduce out-of-pocket costs.
Five Facts about Open Enrollment in Hawaii:
1. Enrollment is off to a strong start. Since Open Enrollment began on November 1, 12,764 Hawaii consumers have selected a plan or were automatically re-enrolled.
2. Financial help is available. In the first month of Open Enrollment, 83 percent of Hawaii consumers who selected health insurance plans were determined eligible for financial assistance to lower their monthly premiums.
3. Time is running out. January 31, 2016 is the final deadline for you to sign up at HealthCare.gov for 2016 coverage.
4. There’s still time to make changes. If you had coverage in 2015 and learned that your plan was automatically renewed for 2016, you still have time to shop plans and make changes. If you find better plan for your family is available, you can change plans at any time before the end of Open Enrollment onJanuary 31, 2016.
5. Picking a plan and signing up for coverage is easier than ever. Every year we find new ways to make signing-up for a plan simpler. You can even apply on a cell phone.
Free, expert help is available:
If you have questions about signing up or want to talk through your options with a trained professional, free help is just a call or click away.
Additional Information about Local Enrollment Data:
Some local media markets include one or more counties in a state that is not using the HealthCare.gov platform in 2016. Plan selections for those only include data for the portions of these areas that are using the HealthCare.gov platform, so the cumulative totals in the snapshot do not represent plan selections for the entire local media market. In addition, some local media markets cross into multiple states that use the HealthCare.gov platform and those totals are cumulative for all HealthCare.gov states in that market. Because some communities do not fall into a local media market, cumulative plan selections for local markets will not total the national cumulative plan selection number. The full list of enrollment data broken down by market is available here: https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-sheets/2016-Fact-sheets-items/2016-01-20.html
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Jan 13, 2016: Hawaii: Only 11,949 Sign up for Obamacare