Covered California New Special Enrollment Period

A new Special Enrollment Period (SEP) has been established for consumers who:

• Learned about the Individual Shared Responsibility Penalty or the California Premium Subsidy after Open Enrollment.
• Have current health insurance coverage through an off-exchange plan but wish to purchase a plan through Covered California to qualify for the new California Premium Subsidy or existing federal subsidies, which are only available through Covered California.

Consumers may purchase a Covered California plan through April 30, 2020 if they have experienced one of the new Qualifying Life Events (QLEs) listed above.

Coverage Effective Dates and State Penalty
California’s new Individual Shared Responsibility Penalty offers a grace period for short coverage gaps of up to and including three (3) months. Therefore, consumers who wish to avoid the Penalty must have coverage effective April 1, 2020.
• Consumers who enroll by March 31 will NOT be subject to the mandate penalty
• Consumers who plan select on or after April 1 will have a May 1 effective date and, therefore, may be subject to 4 months of penalty.

Consumers can estimate their potential penalty by using the Franchise Tax Board’s Penalty Estimator