SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23 — The final day of the Affordable Care Act open enrollment period in Massachusetts to be covered by health insurance in 2015. (The deadline had been February 15, but was extended due to extreme weather.)
WHO NEEDS TO SIGN UP?
The roughly 415,000 state residents in legacy or temporary programs from last year, as well as anyone who doesn’t yet have insurance; if you get insurance at work, you don’t need to sign up
HOW DO I SIGN UP?
Call: You can reach the Massachusetts Health Connector customer service department at 877-623-6765. On Saturday and Sunday, February 21 and 22, operators will be available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Monday, February 23, they will be available from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. (TTY number is 877-623-7773).
Go Online: Visit the marketplace’s website, mahealthconnector.org, and click on “Start Your Application.”
Stop By: The Health Connector offices in Boston (133 Portland Street, 1st floor) and Worcester (146 Main Street, Suite 201/202) will be open for in-person help during the week and on the weekend depending on the weather. Call or visit mahealthconnector.org for hours. You can also find an enrollment assistant at betterhealthconnector.com/help-center.
WHAT IF I DON’T SIGN UP?
If you don’t have coverage in 2015, you’ll need to pay whichever of these two penalties is higher:
Percentage Penalty — 2% of your annual household income
Flat-Fee Penalty — $325 per adult in your family and $162.50 per child (under 18)
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
It depends on a number of variables, but the following sample monthly prices were calculated for a hypothetical 40-year-old Boston nonsmoker making $30,000 per year.
> Benchmark Silver Plans (second-lowest price in the category)
$257 before tax credit
$208 after tax credit
> Benchmark Bronze Plans (lowest in the category)
$210 before tax credit
$161 after tax credit
NUMBER OF STATE RESIDENTS ENROLLED AS OF FEBRUARY 4
226,519 in MassHealth
2,747 in a subsidized health plan
36,516 in an unsubsidized health plan
60,032 in ConnectorCare
325,814 total
Related coverage:
- Nearly 50,000 pay for care through Health Connector
- Health-care enrollment for 2015 plans tops 7 million
- 1 million people apply for health care in first week
This article has been updated to reflect weather-related changes to the plan-selection deadline and customer-service hours of the Massachusetts Health Connector.
Sources: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation; HealthCare.gov; Massachusetts Health Connector
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