Jan. 29--Open enrollment on the state's health insurance exchange has been extended a week because of the blizzard that crippled the region and likely prevented consumers from seeking assistance, officials said Friday.
That gives people who don't have workplace insurance or need to re-enroll in exchange coverage until next Friday at midnight to use the Maryland Health Connection website, marylandhealthconnection.gov, or go in person to a state-sponsored office.
The exchange plans to hold several enrollment fairs this Sunday, put off from the previous week, and some groups hired to help people navigate the system, called connector entities, also will extend their storefront hours.
"This past week really disrupted travel and operations around the state and a lot of connector entities had to close," said Carolyn Quattrocki, executive director of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange.
Quattrocki said even with a missed week that may have captured the procrastinators, the exchange enrollment is well ahead of last year with 160,000 people signing up for private health plans and 300,000 in Medicaid. About 70,000 people automatically renewed their policies from last year.
With big premium hikes in plans from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, the state's dominant insurer, many people shopped around, she said. That gave Kaiser Permanente the biggest boost, but others also benefited including Evergreen Health Co-op.
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