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March 12, 2021

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AAHD WEBINAR ON COVID SEP

The American Association on Health & Disability (AAHD) is hosting a webinar on March 24, 2021 at 2:00 PM ET entitled “COVID SEP – How is it different?”. This webinar will address how the COVID Special Enrollment Period (SEP) is different from usual SEPs. It will explore the specifics of how the COVID SEP works and will also look at what people with disabilities need to consider when selecting a health insurance plan. Details are below:

  • Title: COVID SEP – How is it different?
  • Date: March 24, 2021
  • Time: 2:00 PM ET
  • Register here

To learn more about how the COVID SEP differs from prior SEPs, check out our NDNRC blog post from last month. If you want to learn more about the COVID SEP, check out the news item about the COVID SEP announcement or the news item we published on February 15 when the COVID SEP started, where we outline what someone needs if they want to take advantage of the COVID SEP.

The COVID SEP announced by CMS only affects people who live in states which are on the FFM (healthcare.gov). However, many State Based Marketplaces (SBMs) have also announced COVID SEPs or extending Open Enrollments. In the case of Connecticut, their SBM COVID SEP ends this Monday, March 15. For a full list of SBMs who have announced COVID SEPs and the actual dates for those SEPs, check out our blog post.

In an effort to highlight the COVID SEP, AAHD has a project with Community Catalyst and other partners in conducting outreach to educate individuals about health insurance enrollment through the ACA Marketplace and Medicaid. This outreach includes graphics like the one below which highlight the opportunity to enroll due to COVID. These graphics are available in the Community Catalyst Outreach Hub. You can also check out the social media toolkit Community Catalyst created for the COVID SEP.

Photo of an older African American woman sitting in an electric wheelchair with the message COVID-19 has changed so much, including when you can get coverage from healthcare.gov.

The American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD) is very concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on persons with disabilities.  Now that vaccines are becoming more available, AAHD wants to understand the reasons for COVID-19 vaccination decisions among adults (18+) with disabilities.  The purpose of the COVID-19 and Vaccine Survey for Adults with Disabilities is to understand the reasons adults with disabilities have or will take the vaccine, are not sure about taking it, or have decided not to take the vaccine.  The average completion time for the survey is less than 10 minutes.  The survey is now open using this link! If you want to read more, please check out our page on the AAHD website.

In prior newsletters, we’ve been highlighting the COVID-19 relief bill which has been making its way through Congress. Earlier this week, the Senate and House passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and yesterday, President Biden signed the act into law. One of the provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act would have a substantial effect on the amount of subsidies available to consumers who are enrolled in a plan through the ACA marketplace. The Kaiser Family Foundation has updated their Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has updated their Income Guidelines & Thresholds Chart to reflect the changes in the provisions in the law.

If you want to learn more about the new law, AAHD has prepared a merger of several summaries from national organizations and coalitions. This document is available in one of our recent policy updates. Additionally, if you want to know what the law could mean for the ACA marketplace and Medicaid, the following is a list of writeups from organizations which explain various provisions in the new law.

Archives of our weekly updates are available on the NDNRC website.