OE9 CONTINUES
Please note: with the upcoming holidays, we will not have a NDNRC Update the next two weeks. The NDNRC Update will return January 7th. Happy Holidays from AAHD!
While the deadline for enrolling in coverage starting January 1 has passed, Open Enrollment Year 9 (OE9) continues. The deadline for getting coverage for 2022 in most states is January 15, 2022! If individuals were previously enrolled through healthcare.gov and had selected automatic reenrollment, they were automatically reenrolled if they did not select a new plan before the December 15 deadline. Those reenrolled plans will take effect January 1, but if those plans do not meet the individual’s needs or if they simply want to check what other options are available, these individuals can still change plans through the end of OE9 on January 15, 2022 for a new plan which would start February 1.
With the extended OE9, CMS announced yesterday that it would be providing additional $10.2 million towards the navigator program to help facilitate the consumer assistance provided by the health insurance navigators. You can read more about this in CMS’s press release.
If you’re conducting enrollment assistance, AAHD in partnership with Community Catalyst has the resources you need as you assist people with disabilities enroll in health insurance to let them know about these deadlines. This outreach includes graphics like the one below which highlight the fact that you can now enroll in health insurance. These graphics are available in the Community Catalyst Outreach Hub.
With the extended open enrollment period this year, the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR) has a blog post this week which highlights the benefits and possible issues with a longer OE9.
If you’re looking for more resources for OE9, Young Invincibles also has an OE9 Materials Folder which includes toolkits in English and Spanish and social media graphics which are continuously updated.
Throughout OE9, we have been conducting many activities with the aim of encouraging people with disabilities to enroll in health insurance for 2022. If you missed any of our new blog posts or events during OE9, check out the following links:
- Blog post: Disability Resources for OE9
- Blog post: Welcome to Disability Week of Action!
- Blog post: What ACA Coverage Means for People with Disabilities
- Blog post: Important Statistics on Disability and Healthcare Coverage
- Facebook live: How ACA Coverage Helps People with Disabilities
- Facebook live: Thankful for Coverage/Thankful for Medicaid
- News item: CMS Announces Theme Weeks for OE9
- Twitter chat: Coverage Is Inclusive
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, most individuals determined to be eligible for Medicaid are eligible to have continuous coverage under the program as long as the pandemic continues. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) recently conducted a webinar which addresses the continuous coverage requirement and what it means for navigators and other enrollment assisters. This webinar was done as part of CBPP’s Beyond the Basics project and they recently updated this project website.
Last month, our partners at Community Catalyst published a blog post which addresses what can be done about the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and assisting Medicaid enrollees.
Archives of our weekly updates are available on the NDNRC website.