CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Tuesday marked the final day of open enrollment for HealthCare.gov, in which West Virginians purchased health insurance packages for the upcoming year.
West Virginia is one of 36 states with the Dec. 15 deadline, in which people buy subsidized plans if unable to access health insurance through an employer. The enrollment period began on Nov. 1.
Open enrollment this year happened as the coronavirus pandemic has left millions of Americans unemployed and the country with fewer available jobs.
While final numbers should be released by the end of the month, West Virginia Navigator project director Jeremy Smith said workers have reported a recent increase in calls about purchasing insurance plans.
“During the first two or three weeks of open enrollment, we actually saw it become pretty slow where there weren’t as many new people reaching out to us. I really think between the election being in the first week of open enrollment, that just kind of captured people and they weren’t really paying attention to anything else,” he said. “What we’ve seen in the last couple weeks is we’ve seen a pretty big uptick in people reaching out to us for help, and especially new people that’s never shopped for insurance before.”
Smith said the recent uptick can be contributed to the pandemic, as individuals cannot rely on employer-provided insurance.
“A lot of people are just used to getting insurance through their job,” he explained. “If that’s not an option for them right now, I’m afraid some people just might be deciding to roll the dice and go without insurance thinking they can just hold out until they get that next job. We don’t want to see people go without coverage, especially when we’ve got really good options for people through the health insurance marketplace that is going to be good coverage and what is going to be best for them and their family versus just going without coverage.”
Open enrollment also occured as the U.S. Supreme Court continues considering arguments about the constitutionality of former President Barack Obama’s health care law. Eighteen states — including West Virginia — argue the law should be struck down because of the reduction of the individual mandate to zero. State attorneys general argue the provision, which sets a penalty for not purchasing insurance, is inseverable from the rest of “Obamacare” and the reduction made the overall law inoperable.
“We have had people ask if this program even going to be around in the future,” Smith said. “We make sure to tell them that when they sign up now, they are going to be locked into a plan through 2021.”
According to the West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner, 20,066 people enrolled in health insurance plans from Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield or CareSource at the start of 2020.