November 15, 2021

The Alabama Department of Insurance originally posted this information on Monday, November 1, 2021, as an Insurance News Item.

            November 1st marks the start of the HealthCare.gov Open Enrollment Period. This year, the Biden-Harris Administration has extended the Marketplace Open Enrollment Period by 30 days, through January 15, 2021, to ensure everyone possible has enough time to get covered. To help communities with disproportionately high uninsurance rates, the Navigator footprint of people who can assist with the process of getting covered has been quadrupled. With 1500 Navigators, the Administration has made assistance available in nearly every county in the country.

            The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which drives marketing and oversees the Navigator program on behalf of HHS, has made strides to also ensure material is available to as wide a group of people as possible:

-      In total, there are over 5,500 assisters (including Navigators, certified application counselors, and other assisters) and over 48,000 agents and brokers.

-      CMS has also re-launched its “Champions for Coverage” program, which includes more than 2,100 local organizations that will provide outreach and education about the Marketplace and how consumers can enroll in coverage.

            Through CMS, the Department is concentrating its outreach on people who are most in need of care and who have historically lacked access. Additionally, marketing efforts will include content in many different languages. CMS has expanded its Spanish outreach and, for the first time, CMS will also conduct advertising in Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Hindi.

            “If you are in need of healthcare coverage, please go today to HealthCare.gov where you will find healthcare coverage that is more affordable than ever,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “This Open Enrollment Period consumers will have access to more plan options, more help, for an even longer period of time to enroll. For families in need, that means experiencing the security of having comprehensive health insurance coverage for themselves and their loved ones.”

            All consumers shopping for health insurance coverage on HealthCare.gov — even those who currently have coverage through the Marketplace — should enroll or re-enroll by logging in to HealthCare.gov and CuidadodeSalud.gov, or call 1-800-318-2596 to fill out an application.

            To find local help or to be contacted by a Marketplace-registered agent or broker, consumers should go to https://www.healthcare.gov/find-assistance.  Consumers, including current enrollees, generally need to choose a plan by December 15th for full year coverage to start on January 1, 2022. Plans selected after December 15, 2021, and by the January 15, 2022 Open Enrollment deadline, will generally start February 1, 2022.

            Find out more about key highlights and improvements in the Marketplace 2022 Open Enrollment Season via this fact sheet: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/marketplace-2022-open-enrollment-fact-sheet.

To see the 2022 Issuer Participation County Map, visit:

https://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Programs-and-Initiatives/Health-Insurance-Marketplaces/Health-Insurance-Exchange-Coverage-Maps.

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