Marketplace Special Enrollment Period for COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
February 9, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jennifer Bruce Jennifer.bruce@arkansas.gov 501.371.2622
Marketplace Special Enrollment Period for COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas In accordance with the Executive Order issued by President Biden, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for individuals and families for Marketplace coverage in response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. This SEP will allow individuals and families in states with Marketplaces served by the HealthCare.gov platform to enroll in 2021 health insurance coverage. Beginning February 15, 2021 and through May 15, 2021 **NEW EXTENSION DATE: through August 15, 2021**, these Marketplaces will operationalize functionality to make this SEP available to all Marketplace-eligible consumers who are submitting a new application or updating an existing application.
Uninsured Arkansans will have from February 15 through August 15 to enroll themselves and their families in a health insurance coverage plan through the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace. Plans will go into effect on the 1st of the month following plan selection.
Arkansas’s top insurance companies provide individual health insurance plans that are designed to meet the needs of Arkansans and to provide a variety of options that best fit household budgets. You may be eligible for financial assistance to help pay for the cost of the insurance. About 80 to 85% of Arkansans receive financial assistance with their monthly premiums.
“It is always important to ensure your family’s health and wellbeing by having quality insurance coverage,” said Alan McClain, Arkansas Insurance Commissioner. “But in the midst of a pandemic it is, quite frankly, a matter of life and death.”
Insurance coverage through AID’s Health Insurance Marketplace is for any Arkansan who does not have access to health insurance coverage through an employer-provided plan, Medicare or Medicaid.
Standard benefits include inpatient care, outpatient services, emergency care and prescription drugs. Each plan also
emphasizes preventative care and screenings. Most importantly, there are no lifetime limits and no restrictions for pre-existing conditions.
Arkansans can shop the plans available via a link to healthcare.gov at myARinsurance.com website. For help in selecting appropriate health insurance options and to answer any questions, Arkansans can speak with call center representatives and, if needed, may be referred to licensed insurance professionals in their home county by calling the My Arkansas HelpLine at 1844-355-3262, which is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
About the Arkansas Insurance Department:
The Arkansas Insurance Department, a division of the Arkansas Department of Commerce, was created on March 7, 1917, by an Act of the Arkansas General Assembly. For more information on the Arkansas Insurance Department, please visithttp://insurance.arkansas.gov, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ARInsuranceDept and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ArkansasInsuranceDepartment.
