HealthPocket Poll: 3-to-1 Believe Variations in Obamacare Enrollment Extensions Unfair

SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 31, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Administration announced a mid-April enrollment period extension for those who have begun insurance applications on the federal exchange website. Given that enrollment period deadlines vary among the federal and state-run exchanges, HealthPocket conducted a nationwide survey asking, "Do you believe it is fair if the March 31, 2014 Obamacare enrollment deadline is extended in some states but not in all states?" 76% of the 1,307 respondents answered, "No, it's unfair to have different deadlines." This answer three times more popular than "Yes, it's fair to have different deadlines."

The mid-April enrollment period extension applies to the 36 states that use the federal exchange for their health insurance marketplace. The end of the enrollment period differs by up to 3 months among states operating their own exchanges, with differing rules regarding what circumstances justify an enrollment extension. Connecticut, for example, has retained the original March 31st deadline while Massachusetts has a deadline of June 30 to switch to a qualified health plan if the resident was already enrolled in temporary state-run health plan due to application processing delays. In Nevada, any resident that tries to sign up by March 31st using Nevada Health Link and fails will have an additional sixty days to complete the process. For residents of Washington D.C., people who have an online account on the DC Health Link web site, but have not yet selected a plan, will be able to enroll through April 15, 2014. The April 15th deadline will also apply to D.C. residents who need in-person or telephone assistance.

The uninsured who fail to enroll face a 2014 tax penalty of 1% of adjusted gross annual income or $95, whichever amount is larger. Additionally, people in the individual health insurance market who fail to enroll by the end of the Open Enrollment Period will be in an "Obamacare lock-out period" where Qualified Health Plan enrollment cannot take place unless a qualifying life event happens.

Another nationwide poll conducted by HealthPocket earlier in March found a majority of Americans supported an extension to the Obamacare Open Enrollment Period. 27% of respondents supported an enrollment period extension if the goal of 7 million enrollees was not achieved while another 27% supported an enrollment extension regardless of whether the goal was achieved.

Read the full survey results at HealthPocket.com. HealthPocket will also publish a full state-by-state list of Obamacare enrollment deadlines on Tuesday morning, April 1st.

HealthPocket.com is a free website that compares and ranks all health insurance plans available to an individual, family, or small business to allow consumers to make their best health plan decision and reduce their out of pocket costs. HealthPocket uses only objective data from government, non-profit, and private sources that carry no conditions that might restrict the site from serving as an unbiased resource. Learn more at www.HealthPocket.com.

SOURCE HealthPocket