Connecticut’s insurance exchange will be open this month to sign up residents who were uninsured in 2014 and want to avoid further tax penalties this year.

“As the April 15th federal tax deadline approaches, we wanted to provide an extra opportunity for people to enroll and avoid a tax penalty,” Access Health CT CEO Jim Wadleigh said in a press release.

The special enrollment plan begins today and extends through midnight on April 30.
According to Wadleigh, individuals who enroll before April 15 will receive coverage beginning May 1, and those who enroll after will be covered as of June 1.

Residents who qualify for special enrollment must not have had health care coverage in 2014 and are subject to a penalty on their 2014 federal taxes. They must also attest that they were unaware of the penalty until they began filing their 2014 tax return.

Wadleigh said that they are not looking for documentation to be sent in during the special enrollment period. “Right now what we are doing is going through self attestation,” he said.

“The timing is really the right timing because people are paying their taxes now and finding out that they are being penalized. We want to make sure it’s opened again so that these people don’t get into the same kind of bind next year,” Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman said.

The enrollment will still require individuals to pay a penalty for not having health insurance in 2014, which is $95 per adult, or one percent of income if it is greater, according to Wadleigh.

Anyone who signs up during this special enrollment period will also have to pay a penalty when filing their 2015 taxes next year, but it is prorated based on the number of months the applicant was uninsured. It will still be less than if the individual went without coverage for the entire year.

Next year, the annual tax penalty for 2015 is $325 per adult, or two percent of income, whichever is greater.

Consumers who are eligible for this special enrollment period may enroll online at www.accesshealthct.com, via phone at 1‐855‐805-4325, or via the AHCT mobile application.