Can My Plan Be Cancelled for Non-Payment?
Under the federal mandate and state of Connecticut law, does an insurance company registered in Ct. have the right to terminate a ACA policy prior to the 31 days given (as quoted below) and 3 days before “open enrollment ” ends (in fact blocking the customer from getting coverage elsewhere), solely based on ‘not received payment , taking into consideration their invoice has following discloser :
“NOTICE: Full payment of the amount due must be received within 31 days of your due date or your benefit will be terminated. Our deposit of late or partial payments does not constitute acceptance or continuation of coverage. This invoice may also reflect a prior balance from a previous invoice. Failure to pay this prior balance by the of the current month may cause your coverage to be terminated.”
Keep in mind that this is related to 1st invoice under this policy so there are no ‘’previous invoice’’ .
Would I then be open for penalty for not having coverage until next enrollment period?
Answer
It's legal to cancel coverage, but they have to give you 30 days notice. Considering there has been no first payment, this may technically count.
Plans can be cancelled. Generally cancellations due to non-payment can prevent you from qualifying for a special enrollment period. However, if the non-payment was an error you may be able to get around this. Losing Minimum Essential Coverage for any reason other than non-payment activates a special enrollment period that starts 60 days before the cancellation and extends 60 days after.
Having your health coverage rescinded also qualifies you to file an appeal and may qualify you for a short term hardship exemption (Make sure to keep the rejection letter as proof).
A hardship exemption may also qualify you for a special enrollment period.
You have lots of options, and a few ways you might be able to trigger special enrollment. Even just signing up for the Marketplace triggers a 60 day special enrollment period. Other options include just enrolling in the same plan again before open enrollment ends. Probably worth simply calling HealthCare.Gov on this one given the fact you have so many choices.
1-800-318-2596
TTY: 1-855-889-4325
If you are upset because your plan got cancelled, or just want to help us make a difference, check out: Health Insurance Cancellation Reform for Non-Payment.
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Thanks for your answer but as you can see , when you get Termination letter mailed out early so the last date of open enrollment is more or less same day, it becomes difficult to enroll in anything during the ‘open enrollment period’ options. So what I am trying to clarify is , can they shorten the terminate date they have issued in their invoice ? (temporary loosing coverage if premium has not been received on due date is one thing, and that they could have informed about during the 31 days (Aetna,CT has 31 days) from due date to Termination – but can they Terminate prior ?
Answer Rating:
You should qualify for a special enrollment period due to the “hardship” of having your plan cancelled, this allows you to enroll 30 days before the “hardship” to avoid a coverage gap. Considering it’s already crunch time, i’m not sure how much good this will do right now, but it will hopefully be helpful to other folks down the line.
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To address your other point, having them change the due date or to change their decision would require an appeal.
I was cancelled without any notice. I made a payment on 4/6/ 2016 ad Pressure and had not received a bill and called and found out that my policy had been cancelled without any notification. I have High Blood pressure and and am on medication. I have been with BCBS for a long time and do not understand why I was not notified. When I made my last payment by phone I asked how much I owed and made the payment. Now I am uninsured and out of my payments that I made after receiving 3 different cards from BCBS with my plan changing without my permission. All different Plans. I fell like I have a law suit here as I am uninsured and will have to find other insurance. It will be hard to do as I have been cancelled without notice.
what happens if trumps cancels obama care do I lose my health insurance
Not immediately. You might lose access to cost assistance, but you’ll almost 100% be able to keep coverage if you continue it for life. Don’t know all the details yet.
Is there a requirement to ensure a policy holder receives notification of nonpayment before termination of a policy occurs?
No, but there is a requirement that they tell you. They at least have to have sent a letter.
If you didn’t get a notice, you can appeal.