HealthSource RI enrollment deadline Sunday

HEALTHSOURCE RI is encouraging people to sign up for health insurance plans through the exchange by Sunday's deadline or they risk going without health insurance this year.
HEALTHSOURCE RI is encouraging people to sign up for health insurance plans through the exchange by Sunday's deadline or they risk going without health insurance this year.

(Updated 11:42 a.m.) PROVIDENCE – The deadline to enroll in insurance plans through HealthSource RI is Sunday, and those who miss it risk going without health coverage this year.

“This is the last chance for Rhode Islanders to sign up for health coverage for 2015, or they risk paying a penalty fee to the federal government. We urge anyone without insurance to call the contact center or visit the Providence or Warwick walk-in centers, or go online at healthsourceri.com and sign up by Sunday. We do expect lines and wait times to be longer as the deadline nears,” HealthSource RI director Anya Rader Wallack said in a statement.

In addition to the agency’s website, information about plans can be found by calling (855) 840-HSRI, or visiting the walk-in centers at 70 Royal Little Drive, Providence, and 1923 Post Road, Warwick. The centers are open until 9 tonight, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

The agency also is holding enrollment events today until 7 p.m. at Middletown Police Station, 123 Valley Road, Middletown, and Saturday at the North Kingstown Methodist Church, 450 Boston Neck Road, from noon to 6 p.m.

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The only way Rhode Islanders can purchase insurance after Sunday’s deadline is through a special enrollment period; eligibility for those periods are triggered by life events such as getting married, adding a child to a family or losing employer-based health insurance, a HealthSource RI spokeswoman said.
New and renewing customers who enroll by Feb. 15 and pay for their first month’s premium by Feb. 23 will have coverage that begins on March 1.
Through Feb. 7, 79 percent of Year One customers have renewed plans for 2015, with 77 percent of them having paid the first month’s premium.
Total enrollments number 28,787. The number has grown by 1,312 customers since last week, when 27,475 enrollments were reported.
The 2014 total for individual enrollments was 25,288.
On the small business side, small employer enrollment (paid and unpaid) totals 458, representing 3,333 covered lives, a slight gain on the 455 enrollment reported last week (3,333 covered lives also were reported last week).
Small business owners interested in purchasing coverage for their employees through the SHOP marketplace can enroll beyond the Feb. 15 deadline since enrollment in SHOP happens year-round.

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