HARTFORD — Midnight on Saturday was supposed to be the last chance to sign up for 2019 health insurance under the Affordable Care Act in Connecticut.
But at 1 p.m. on Saturday officials with AccessHealthCT, the ACA exchange for the state, announced they were extending the deadline until January 15, 2019. Signing up by midnight Saturday will still provide coverage beginning on January 1st. But signing up between December 15th and January 15th means coverage will not begin until February.
Sign-ups across the country for coverage under Obamacare, as the ACA is commonly known, have been lagging when compared to last year. However, in an email, an AccessHealth spokesperson says the extension had nothing to do with Connecticut’s enrollment numbers and that the extension had “was planned”. She said the extension was not announced earlier because they did not want to confuse customers. AccessHealth did not respond to further emails asking about what prompted the planned extension.
The AccessHealthCT call center will still be open until midnight on Saturday.
The health care law still faces legal challenges. A conservative federal judge in Texas ruled the Affordable Care Act “invalid” Friday on the eve of the sign-up deadline for next year. But with appeals certain, even the Trump White House said the law will remain in place for now.
