There are a handful of Affordable Care Act deadlines that are pretty clear-cut, one being large employers don't have to provide employee benefits to their workers until 2016. The mid-April deadline is straightforward as well, which applies to those who signed up through the exchanges before March 31 but didn't finish.
However, because many states operate their own exchanges, these deadlines vary from one to the next. To help clarify things, health insurance information firm HealthPocket put together a summary of all the dates in which consumers need to enroll or face the risk of being penalized.
"Enrollment extensions differ by state creating considerable confusion for consumers," said Bruce Telkamp, CEO of HealthPocket. "[We] consolidated this extension information in one place so consumers can find the information they need as well as any special conditions that must be satisfied in order to qualify for an extension."
For example, in the vast majority of states, so long as applications have been submitted by April 7, they will be able to select plans until April 30. However, conditions may apply in places like Hawaii, Kentucky, Nevada, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, where exchanges are managed by the state.
Even after the deadlines pass, though, there are still a number of circumstances in which exceptions may be made, giving consumers more time to select health plans. These include moving, experiencing enrollment errors, getting married, or losing existing coverage.
The government has stated that those who fail to comply with the ACA will face a penalty, either being $95 or 1 percent of their annual earnings. It's still not clear, however, which rule will be enforced and at what time, according to The New York Times.
