We're heading into the home stretch to sign up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act this year. The open enrollment period ends March 31 for most people.
But there are exceptions. And they are the subject of many of our questions this month.
For example, Diane Jennings of Hickory, N.C., has a question about her young adult daughter, who's currently covered on her father's health insurance. "When she ages out of the program this year at 26, in October," Jennings asks, "she'll have to get her own insurance through the exchange. But as she [will have] missed the deadline of March 2014, will she have to pay a penalty?"
There shouldn't be any penalty. Turning 26 is one of those life changes that allows you to buy insurance from the health exchange outside the normal open enrollment period. In this case, since the daughter knows when this will happen, she can make the switch in advance; you can sign up as many as 60 days before you'll need coverage.
This is a function the federal government just recently added to the Healthcare.gov website. When you log into your account there's a new button that's marked 'report a life change.' You click on that button and it should guide you through the process.
Kaitlyn Grana of Los Angeles is also a young adult on a parent's plan – her mother's. She and her husband are expecting a baby in June. Her husband has insurance through his employer. But, she says, "He doesn't really love his insurance, so we're thinking about covering baby through Covered California," the state-run exchange. "My question is, how soon do we need to do this, and what options are available to us?"
We have several questions from young women on their parents' plans who are pregnant. And it's important to know is that while the health law requires that employer health plans cover their workers' young-adult children, that requirement does not extend to their children's children (although a few state laws require it). So Kaitlyn won't be able to get her new baby covered through her mother's plan.
“ While the health law requires that employer health plans cover their workers' young-adult children up to age 26, that requirement does not extend to their children's children.