PORTLAND, ME – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) announced the start of a special Affordable Care Act enrollment period for individuals and families who did not have health coverage in 2014 and are subject to the fee or “shared responsibility payment” when they file their 2014 taxes in states which use the Federally-Facilitated Marketplace (FFM).

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the creation of this special enrollment period on February 20 after King and a group of his colleagues sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Director Sylvia Burwell urging that such an enrollment period be instituted.

“Millions of people around the country and thousands in Maine face fines for missing ACA deadlines, but thanks to this special enrollment period, they have an opportunity to avoid some of those fines and move one step closer to quality, affordable coverage,” said Senator King. “This is the kind of commonsense solution to a widespread problem that can make a big difference in the lives of families across the country.”

In their February 13 letter, King and his colleagues asked the Department of Health and Human Services to grant individuals who were uninsured in 2014 and subject to the individual responsibility payment another opportunity to enroll in 2015 coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The special enrollment period beginning today aligns with the request from King and his colleagues by allowing those individuals and families who were unaware or didn’t understand the implications of this new requirement to enroll in 2015 health insurance coverage through the FFM.

The special enrollment period runs through Thursday, April 30, 2015. To enroll, eligible consumers can visit HealthCare.gov or contact the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596.

To be eligible, people must live in a state using the FFM (Maine is one), cannot already be enrolled in coverage through the FFM for 2015, and must attest that 1) when they filed their 2014 tax return, they paid the fee for not having health coverage in 2014 and 2) they first became aware of, or understood the implications of, the Shared Responsibility Payment after the end of open enrollment (February 15, 2015) in connection with preparing their 2014 taxes.

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