TO CLARIFY: In pretty much all cases below, when it comes to restaurants, "shut down" refers to dining in only; they're pretty much all still allowing delivery/carryout orders.
Coronavirus emergency launches one-month special enrollment period
As part of the state’s overall response to the coronavirus, and in an effort to prioritize health and safety, Maryland Health Connection opened a new special enrollment period for uninsured Marylanders.
When will the special enrollment period begin?
The coronavirus emergency special enrollment period will begin Monday, March 16, and end Wednesday, April 15. Coverage will begin April 1, 2020, regardless of when a health plan is selected during that time period.
Governor Whitmer Announces Statewide Closure of All K-12 School Buildings; School building closures will last Monday, March 16 through Sunday, April 5
Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that in order to slow the spread of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan, she is ordering the closure of all K-12 school buildings, public, private, and boarding, to students starting Monday, March 16 until Sunday, April 5. School buildings are scheduled to reopen on Monday, April 6.
As of tonight, the number of presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in Michigan is 12.
Maryland would use state tax forms to identify uninsured residents and refer them to options for no-cost or low-cost health care under a bill moving forward in the General Assembly.
The bill, if approved, would add a question on state tax returns asking taxpayers if they have health insurance. Those who answer that they don’t have health insurance would be referred to the state's Medicaid program or the health exchange, where individuals can buy health insurance plans.
...Dorn explained to me that the way it would work is much more than that: The state tax returns would include a new line where uninsured filers would be required to check off one of two boxes:
ALL OTHER STATES: You may qualify for a 60-day Special Enrollment Period (SEP) if you've recently lost (or will soon lose) your employer-based healthcare coverage, or if you've experienced other Qualifying Life Events (QLE) such as getting marrinew yorked/divorced, moving, giving birth/adopting a child, getting out of prison, turning 26 etc. For these SEPs you may have to provide documentation to verify your QLE. Visit HealthCare.Gov or your state's ACA exchange website for details on the process.
In early 2018, Maryland state legislators introduced a bill which included a twist on the coverage mandate penalty--those who failed to sign up had another option: They could either pay the penalty or they could choose to have the penalty amount be used to automatically enroll them in the lowest-cost insurance policy available. If they qualified for ACA subsidies, those would even be baked into the equation as well. This was a clever way of softening the blow, while also increasing enrollment and helping out the ACA risk pool.
158,600 MARYLANDERS ENROLLED THROUGH MARYLAND HEALTH CONNECTION
2020 enrollment total largest in four years
BALTIMORE (DEC. 17, 2019) – A total of 158,600 Marylanders enrolled in private health coverage for 2020 on Maryland Health Connection, the largest enrollment in four years on the state-based health insurance marketplace.
That was 1,637 more enrollees than a year ago when 156,963 enrolled. It was also the largest enrollment on the health insurance marketplace since 2016 when 162,652 enrolled. Enrollments for 2020 coverage grew in 20 of 24 jurisdictions.
The 45-day open enrollment period for the coming plan year began Nov. 1 and ended Sunday. A few hundred additional enrollments will be completed this week for consumers who had begun the process but hadn’t finished by Sunday night.
Maryland Health Connection will hold nearly 20 “Last Chance” events throughout the state during the final week of open enrollment Dec. 7-15 to provide free help enrolling in health coverage. Marylanders can enroll in health and dental coverage until Dec. 15 through Maryland Health Connection, the state’s health insurance marketplace.
At the free “Last Chance” events, certified health insurance navigators will help Marylanders sign up for a health plan and understand their coverage options and financial help available. Assistance also is available in Spanish.
Visit MarylandHealthConnection.gov or the Enroll MHC mobile app to browse plans, compare coverage and costs, and enroll.
The fall open enrollment is for private health and dental plans only. People who have coverage through Medicaid will receive a notice when it’s time to renew; enrollment for Medicaid is all year for eligible Marylanders.
HEALTH PLAN RATES HAVE DROPPED; OPEN ENROLLMENT BEGINS NOV. 1
“START HERE” AT MARYLANDHEALTHCONNECTION.GOV
BALTIMORE (Oct. 30, 2019) - “Start Here” will be the theme for 2020 health care open enrollment season that begins Nov. 1 with Maryland Health Connection.
The “Start Here” campaign will appear on social media, print, online and other venues, including gas station TVs, to emphasize where Marylanders can go to enroll and use the free, expert advisers located throughout Maryland. A TV ad will run to complement the campaign.
Open enrollment begins on MarylandHealthConnection.gov at 5 a.m. on Nov. 1. Dec. 15 is the deadline to sign up for 2020 coverage that begins Jan. 1, 2020.
New this year, Value Plans feature lower deductibles and increased access to primary care, mental health care, and generic drugs before deductibles apply. Value plans are designed to lower consumers’ out-of-pocket costs for the health care services the majority of people use most frequently.
I'm not sure how this slipped by me, but in addition to Covered California already having launched their 2020 Open Enrollment Period yesterday, five other state-based ACA exchanges are already partly open as well. That is, you can shop around, compare prices on next year's health insurance policies and check and see what sort of financial assistance you may be eligible for:
I'm not sure when the other 7 state-based exchanges will launch their 2020 window shopping tools, nor do I know when HealthCare.Gov's window shopping will be open for the other 38 states, although I believe they usually do so about a week ahead of the official November 1st Open Enrollment Period launch date.
