This is the final week for those without health insurance to sign up under the Affordable Care Act – or face a penalty on tax day.
Get Covered Illinois is making a push this week in as many ways as it can, featuring what it calls “real-life enrollment success stories,” says policy director Laura Phelan.
“We’re featuring this on our You Tube and social media channels because we know from research that it’s often important for those who are uninsured to see someone like them get covered in order to take a step to complete the process and get health coverage themselves,” she said.
Sign-up in Illinois through the end of January was 296,293. Those are people who signed up for the first time, picked new plans or were automatically re-enrolled in existing plans. 78 percent of those people get a tax credit to cover part of the cost.
The penalty for not having insurance, which was $95 last year, is $325 this year.
There will be enrollment events across the state as part of the final-week push. Enrollment events can be found here:
https://prod-origin.gci-stage.com/events/