Open Enrollment restrictions do not apply to medical cost sharing plans. Accordingly, individuals can enroll in Health Excellence Plus on a year-round basis without the requirement to have a qualifying life event (e.g. marriage, moving between counties or states, etc.) to enroll.
Individuals who enroll by the 20
th of a month can have an effective date the first of the following month (or they can elect a future first of the month effective date).
Those who have Affordable Care Act plans should enroll by December 20
th to have a January 1, 2019 effective date and avoid the possibility of losing continuous coverage.
Likewise, those with short term health plans should elect to enroll on a date that minimizes days without having coverage. For example, a person who has a short term plan that ends on December 26 should enroll by December 20 for a January 1 effective date and will only have lack of coverage for 5 days.
A person who has a short term plan that ends sometime in 2019 can elect to enroll as of January 1 or as of the first of the month in which he or she loses short term coverage and this person will not have a gap in coverage. Contact your short term carrier to determine cancellation provisions and discover whether you will inclur any additional short term policy premiums if you cancel your short term policy before the end of the policy period. Call us at
877-734-3884 to discuss and to determine how enrolling before the last day of your short term coverage affects your cost for the short term plan.