ACA/Obamacare: The Deadline Passed for Individual Health Insurance…But Not for Expanded Medicaid

ACA is a scheme predicated on exchange based policies, private exchange based policies and Medicaid. Hence the supposed enrollment numbers appearing in/on various news outlets include Medicaid enrollees.

Open enrollment for exchange based policies ended 03/31/2014 at midnight. Individuals wanting to apply for individual health insurance, for the exception of a life event such as loss of job and health insurance, marriage, child birth, etc., one can no longer purchase an exchange based policy until the next open enrollment. Therefore, if you have the money to purchase coverage or one’s own money along with a taxpayer subsidy to purchase coverage, you have no availability to procure coverage, until the next open enrollment period. Or in the words of the ACA exchange:

　
Coverage options outside Open Enrollment


Open Enrollment for 2014 coverage is over. But you may still have options to get health coverage, including:

Buying a private health plan through the Marketplace — only if you qualify for a special enrollment period
Applying for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) — you can do this any time, all year.(1)
　
However, if you are applying for coverage under the expanded Medicaid option available in roughly half of the states, no such deadline exists:

　

Medicaid and CHIP. Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are joint state and federal programs that provide coverage to millions of Americans with limited incomes and some people with disabilities.

There is no limited enrollment period for Medicaid and CHIP. You and your family can enroll in Medicaid and CHIP any time during the year if you qualify.
Whether you qualify depends on what state you live in, your household size and income, or other factors including pregnancy, family situation, and disability.
Your children could qualify for coverage through CHIP even if you don’t qualify for Medicaid.(2)


Notes:

(1) and (2) https://www.healthcare.gov/how-can-i-get-coverage-outside-of-open-enrollment/