Several deadlines have been looming and another one is about to pass concerning purchased health care coverage under Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act.
According to federal health officials, as many as 115,000 immigrants will lose their coverage by the end of the month because they failed to provide proof of their citizenship or immigration status by the Sept. 5 deadline. But even with the passing of this deadline, people can still send in the needed information to prove eligibility to regain coverage.
Those who are able to prove eligibility will be placed under a special category – with those who have experienced a major life change, like having a baby, getting divorced or losing a job with health insurance.
The next major deadline consumers have to watch out for is for the submission of documentation to support the case of eligibility for financial aid. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services started sending out letters to those consumers affected this week concerning such supporting documents required by Sept. 30, or risk a change to their premium.
As many as 363,000 consumers could lose financial subsidies for their insurance premiums unless they can send in proof to clear up the issue concerning income provided being different from what’s on federal tax records.
CMS also wanted to clarify, stating “Just because CMS is double-checking data and requesting more documentation, doesn’t mean that a consumer has provided false information or that he or she is ineligible for help paying for cover or health services – it simply means that the information on their application doesn’t match what’s in trusted data sources and therefore has to be verified.”
As data matching issues are being resolved, the next Marketplace open enrollment period is also set to begin on November 15.
According to a statement from CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner in a press release, “The Affordable Care Act is working for millions of Americans who are able to access quality health coverage at a price they can afford.”
[Source: CMS; The Washington Post.]
Photo by Dominik Gwarek, via Free Images.