If you’re scrambling to beat tonight’s 11:59 deadline to sign up for health care insurance under the Affordable Care Act, there’s no need to breakout in a sweat. That’s because Floridians are getting an extension until the end of the year.
States that were impacted by hurricanes this year — like Florida which was hit by Irma in September — were granted the extension by the federal government.
However, those Floridians who do not register by the Dec. 15 deadline will need to call the insurance exchange at 800-318-2596 to request the extension to Dec. 31.
From Nov. 1 through Dec. 9, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reports that nearly 4.7 million people in the U.S. had registered for insurance. The advocacy group Get America Covered says that about 650,000 more sign-ups than at the similar point last year.
“That’s still by about 650,000 more sign-ups than at the similar point last year,” the group said in a written statement released earlier this week. “More importantly, new enrollment is up nearly 17% over the equivalent week last year — a good sign for the final surge of enrollment.”
Florida leads the nation in the number of residents enrolled with more than 1 million Floridians signed up for 2018 coverage. That’s about 150,000 more people than during the same time period a year ago.
Despite the last-minute rush, it’s unlikely that total enrollment will match last year’s figure of 9.2 million.
Get America Covered blames the reduction in registrations on the Trump administration’s shortening of the period for people to sign-up for health care.
“There is little doubt that with demand as strong as it is that more people would have signed up for coverage this year than last if not for the shortened enrollment period,” the advocacy group said