Those who are just realizing that they'll have to pay a penalty in the 2014 tax year for failing to enroll in health insurance — and who missed the latest enrollment period which ended Feb. 15 — are being given another chance to get covered for 2015.
On Friday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, announced that a special enrollment period will be held this spring those who qualify.
"Well this is really an opportunity for people that might have missed their chance to enroll in health coverage this first year, to get another bite at the apple," says Andrea Irwin, legal and policy director with Consumers for Affordable Health Care. She says while the special enrollment period doesn't exempt people from penalties already incurred for 2014, it does save them from facing the same penalties — which will likely be higher — for the 2015 tax year. The rules, she says, can be confusing.
"It's really good for people to talk to either a navigator or their tax professional and to have that information so that they really understand exactly what their options are and what they're responsible for," she says.
In a statement issued by CMS, administrator Marilynn Tavenner wrote that the government recognizes it's the first time consumers have been responsible for fees and penalties for failing to enroll.
The action comes after Congressional pressure in Washington. Independent Sen. Angus King was one of several lawmakers to push CMS to offer the special enrollment.
The special enrollment period will be March 15-April 30, and applicants will have to swear in a written statement that they were unaware of the penalties they could incur by failing to sign up.
