U.S. creates special Obamacare enrollment period for 2015

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. creates special Obamacare enrollment period for 2015

BY TONI CLARKE
WASHINGTON Fri Feb 20, 2015 11:42am EST

(Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Friday it would create a special enrollment period for tax filers who were unaware they could face penalties for missing the Feb. 15 deadline to obtain health insurance through the federal marketplace.

The one-off special enrollment period will extend from March 15 to April 30. If consumers do not buy health insurance during this period they will have to pay a penalty when they file their 2015 taxes. Eligible filers must live in one of the 37 states with a federally facilitated insurance marketplace.

State-based insurance exchanges can set their own policies, officials said, although they are "welcome to mirror" federal policy.

"We recognize that this is the first tax filing season where consumers may have to pay a fee or claim an exemption for not having health insurance coverage," Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the insurance exchange, said in a statement.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/20/us-usa-obamacare-taxes-idUSKBN0LO1IH20150220

[Control-Z]

1. Republicans are going to be

pissed off about this.

There goes the Obama administration changing laws all on their own again.