The open enrollment period on Maryland Health Connection, the state’s healthcare insurance marketplace, will continue through February, Governor Larry Hogan announced this week.
Enrollment, which began Nov. 1 and was set to end Jan. 15, will run until Feb. 28.
Record numbers of Marylanders have enrolled for coverage in 2022, according to a news release from Governor Hogan’s administration, and the extension of open enrollment will allow more people to sign up as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
“One of the many lessons of the pandemic is how important it is to have access to affordable and reliable health coverage, and we are fortunate to have a health exchange that is a national model,” Governor Hogan said in a statement.
The Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, which was created in 2011 as part of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, runs the state’s health insurance marketplace.
The insurance was created to make affordable health insurance available for more people, particularly those who do not get insurance from their employer.
There are 181,603 Marylanders currently signed up for coverage in 2022 – a 9 percent increase from last year and all-time high.
Populations that have historically lacked health coverage – young adults, Black, and Hispanic residents – enrolled at much higher rates between Nov. 1 and Jan. 15.
Enrollment of adults aged 18-34 increased by 6 percent, Black enrollees increased by 10 percent, and Hispanic enrollees increased by 13 percent.
Anyone who enrolls by Jan. 31 will have coverage beginning Feb. 1, and those who enroll in February will have coverage beginning March 1.
