If you failed to meet the January 31 open enrollment deadline to enroll in a health insurance plan for 2020, you might still be able to get coverage this year. Covered California is allowing those who didn’t know about the new mandate to have coverage to sign up by April 30. Not knowing about the new law is considered a qualifying event. You will have to mark a box on the application saying you did not know that there would be a penalty assessed if you do not have health insurance coverage in 2020.

Enrollment increased for the first time in three years, according to statistics from the state-run marketplace, most likely due to the new tax to be implemented on those going without insurance. “I encourage everyone who does not have qualifying health insurance to take advantage of the special enrollment period,” State Controller Betty Yee said in a press release. “I like signing tax refund checks, not assessing penalties.”

While the federal government under the Trump Administration has been slashing its advertising budget for the federal marketplace, California has done just the opposite, spending nearly $121 million on advertising. The state has also increased the length of open enrollment, giving residents longer to sign up than in other states. These factors resulted in an increase in enrollment in California by 1.6% compared to a decline in the federal marketplace of 0.5%.

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