UPDATE: Health officials say people who started the application process on or before the December 15 midnight open enrollment deadline now have an extension to complete it.

They said open enrollment for those people has been extended to 11:59 p.m. on Friday, December 20.

Nevada Health Link's call center hours through December 20 are Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday, December 20 from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

For more information, visit NevadaHealthLink.com.

Original Story: The 45-day open enrollment period for people to sign up for insurance through Nevada Health Link ends Sunday, December 15th at 11:59 p.m. Officials say they are hoping to see an increase over the current year which saw more than 83,000 Nevadans sign up for a plan on the exchange. Anyone who misses the deadline will not be able to sign up until next November.

"Outside of open enrollment, you have to have some kind of special life circumstance in order to get access to these plans," Heather Korbulic, Executive Director of Silver State Health Insurance Exchange said. "So if you miss this deadline, you're going to be without insurance until the next open enrollment period."

Anyone can qualify for insurance on the exchange except those who get it through their parents or employers, or if they get Medicare or Medicaid. Korbulic says 83 percent of consumers also qualify for federal subsidies.

"There's a lot of assistance available and we even have some consumers who are paying zero dollars for their plans," Korbulic said.

Nevada is in its first year using its own platform to sign people up for insurance. By separating itself from Healthcare.gov, it is saving $4 million in the first year. During the five-year contract, it is expected to save between $18 million and $20 million. Korbulic says so far, the new system is working well and it gives them direct access to patients.

"There have been isolated and individualized defects but we've resolved them as quickly as we've been notified of them," Korbulic said. "We're getting a lot of compliments from our navigators and from our brokers. They all really are liking this system. We also are having a 98 percent positive response rate to our call center."

Nevada Health Link is extending its hours ahead of the deadline. To reach the call center, call 1-800-547-2927. People can also head to nevadahealthlink.com

 

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