Deadline to enroll in health insurance is Monday

Coloradans who still need health insurance effective Jan. 1 need to act fast.

Monday is the deadline to enroll in a health insurance plan for most people without government or employer-based plans, should shoppers want that coverage to take effect at the start of 2015. With the deadline nearing, Gary Drews, the head of Colorado's health insurance exchange, Connect for Health Colorado, implored people to sign up.

'It's time to act right now,' Drews said in a statement late last week.

Most people who purchased plans last year on the exchange will automatically be re-enrolled for coverage in 2015, even if they do nothing by Monday's deadline. But people who decided against purchasing a plan in 2014 - or who want to change their plans for Jan. 1 - must enroll by Monday.

Exchange officials announced Thursday that 24,811 people had signed up since Nov. 15 for coverage in 2015. About one-third of those people are new customers.

Those who are continuing coverage without shopping around could find their bill is significantly higher next year.

Coloradans who received federal subsidies in 2014 to ease their monthly payments could end up spending an average of 77 percent more in out-of-pocket costs in 2015, should they keep their current plans. The reason: Some key insurance rates dropped, and because those plans cost less, the federal government scaled back financial assistance.

Exchange officials say people can still find cheaper coverage - shoppers just need to be savvy.

Last year, thousands of Coloradans waited until the Dec. 15 deadline to enroll in coverage - a rush that flooded customer service lines at the state's exchange and caused call wait times to spike.

But while important, the deadline isn't the final chance to purchase health insurance.

Most shoppers without government or employer-based health care coverage can enroll in plans through Feb. 15, but that coverage won't begin until later in the year.

Forgoing coverage by that Feb. 15 date, however, could leave people open to another cost: A tax penalty under the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate.

People without coverage next year must pay $325 or 2 percent of their yearly household income. It marks an increase from the $95 or 1 percent that will be assessed come tax season for being uninsured in 2014.