Delaware begins its 12th year of open enrollment on the ACA Health Insurance Marketplace.
During this enrollment period which is open until January 15, there are 45 plans from four different carriers, a big improvement from 2022 when there were only 12 plans and one carrier.
If you want to be covered on January 1, you must enroll by December 15. You’re encouraged to enroll as early as possible just in case issues arise in the process.
If you qualify for Medicare or Medicaid, or you have health insurance through an employer, you don’t have to apply for insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Chris Haas is the Senior Policy Advisor with the Delaware Department of Insurance. She explains where to go to sign up.
"We send everyone to healthcare.gov. Very clear, not healthcare.com, not Obamacare.com. There are a lot of suspicious sites out there, so please use a registered site or your own broker agent,” said Haas. “And of course our local navigators you can access from choosehealthde.com, including Westside and our other navigators."
Enrollment in Delaware has increased by 77% since 2021. The Health Insurance Marketplace now covers about 45,000 individuals with some shifts during the year.
And the Delaware Department of Insurance believes the numbers can even get higher moving forward.
"I think there is room to grow as our carriers kind of compete and start to bring in new populations as we bring in those I think it's roughly twelve hundred DACA recipients who will be eligible. We're really hoping to see them sign up. I think our year over year increase was about 23%, and so that's a pretty significant number to continue, but we're hopeful," said Haas.
