Maryland: 113.4K QHPs, 140K Medicaid, "In Line By Midnight" Extension Announced thru 2/28

Now that's a last-minute extension...

MARYLAND HEALTH CONNECTION ALLOWING PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEGUN ENROLLMENT APPLICATIONS TO COMPLETE THEM UNTIL FEB. 28

BALTIMORE (Feb. 15, 2015) — Due to high demand during this final weekend of open enrollment for 2015, Maryland Health Connection is allowing people to complete their enrollments until Feb. 28, 2015. Marylanders need to have started an enrollment application at MarylandHealthConnection.gov or have contacted the call center at 855-642-8572 before midnight Sunday, Feb. 15 to be able to complete the process by Feb. 28.

After midnight Sunday, MarylandHealthConnection.gov will include the message: "Open enrollment for 2015 has ended. If you began to enroll by the February 15 deadline but were not successful, please check the box below and you may go ahead and complete your enrollment. You must finish your enrollment no later than February 28. … [ ] I started an application or called the call center to enroll by the February 15 deadline but was not able to complete my enrollment.”

“Reasonable concerns that this change could create some confusion were outweighed by the desire to ensure that everyone who began their application for quality and affordable health coverage can get it,” said Carolyn Quattrocki, executive director of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange. “Although 250,000 Marylanders have successfully enrolled since mid-November, we realize that some folks may have been unable to complete their enrollment on the last day due to a great increase in call-center volume.”

Several other state-based marketplaces that operate similar to Maryland’s are allowing for extended enrollment completions for a period of time beyond Feb. 15.

Unlike some of the other states offering extensions, the start date for these late enrollees are being broken out depending on the date of the completion:

For people who complete their enrollment in qualified health plans on Feb. 16, 17 or 18, their coverage would begin March 1, 2015. For people who complete their application from Feb. 19 to Feb. 28, their coverage would begin April 1, 2015. In either case, they would not be subject to the federal tax penalty, which allows an exemption for three months without coverage during the calendar year.

In addition, the MD exchange has provided about as up-to-date of an enrollment report as I could possibly ask for...I'm assuming this runs through either midnight last night or through sometime today:

During the three-month open enrollment period since Nov. 15, a total of 253,232 Marylanders have enrolled, including 113,463 individuals in private Qualified Health Plans and 139,769 have enrolled in Medicaid. Maryland Health Connection received 418,582 phone calls and more than 1.5 million unique visitors to its website during this period.

113.4K happens is a 67% enrollment increase over last year's open enrollment period...and that doesn't even include whatever came in for at least part of today, plus the "In Liners" over the next 13 days.