Life changes prompt special enrollment opportunities for health insurance: Free assistance is available to Review options, sign up

PRESS RELEASE:

Did you just experience your first Father’s Day? Get married? Become a college graduate? If so, these and other major life changes can offer special enrollment opportunities for health insurance through North Carolina’s Marketplace.

Although open enrollment ended in January, some consumers still have the opportunity to enroll throughout the year if they qualify for a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) or year-round Medicaid and CHIP enrollment. In some cases, if you already are enrolled in a Marketplace plan, you may have the option to change plans.

Qualifying life events that can trigger a special enrollment period include:

o   Getting married

o   Having a baby or adopting a child

o   Moving permanently into a new coverage area

o   Experiencing certain changes of income

o   Losing health coverage from an employer, school, or a family member’s plan

o   Experiencing a change in immigration status

Appointments can be made by calling toll-free: 855-733-3711 or make an appointment online at pisgahlegal.org

Pisgah Legal Services and other ACA (Affordable Care Act) Partners of WNC give local residents free, unbiased information about affordable options for health insurance. These organizations include: Blue Ridge Community Health Services, Council on Aging of Buncombe County, Legal Aid of North Carolina, Mountain Projects, Inc., Western Carolina Medical Society and WNC Community Health Services.

Those who have not signed up for health insurance will face penalties which will be deducted from tax refunds. In 2016 the fees will increase to $695/person or 2.5% of yearly household income, whichever is greater.

Pisgah Legal Services is a nonprofit law firm providing free civil legal aid since 1978 to help low-income people meet their basic needs, such as protection from domestic violence, avoiding homelessness, finding safe housing, and accessing health care and subsistence income.  For more information, call Pisgah Legal Services at 828-253-0406 or toll free at 800-489-6144 or visit pisgahlegal.org.

The project described was supported by Funding Opportunity Number CA-NAV-15-001 from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The contents provided are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of HHS or any of its agencies.

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About Thomas Calder
Thomas Calder received his MFA in Fiction from the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program. His writing has appeared in Gulf Coast, the Miracle Monocle, Juked and elsewhere. His debut novel, The Wind Under the Door, is now available.

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