As the Coronavirus Covid-19 has continued to spread across Los Angeles, California, and throughout the United States, Covered California has announced that the Special Enrollment Period has been extended for those impacted by COVID-19 through July 31st. This also applies to off-exchange, direct to insurance carrier applications such as Blue Shield of California, Kaiser Permanente, Anthem , Oscar, Health Net . Anyone who is currently uninsured can now apply until the end of July for an August 1st effective date. Originally, the expanded Covid-19 Special Enrollment Period was through the end of June but due to the continued spread of COVID-19, uninsured Californians will have another month to apply without the need for a traditional qualifying life event.

Under the normal Special Enrollment Period, you must have a qualifying life event that occurred within the last 60 days such as loss of employer-sponsored coverage due to change in job status/reduction of hours, loss of Medi-Cal due to higher income, recently moved, married/divorced, child birth and other qualifying life events to be eligible to apply for health insurance. Now, those that are currently uninsured can temporarily use COVID-19 as a qualifying life event by listing today’s date as the qualifying life event date.

Furthermore, most health insurance companies have continued to waive the member cost-share for both testing and treatment for COVID-19. Please see below for the latest end dates for waived member cost-share for COVID-19 treatment.

  • Blue Shield of CA – waived through September 30th
  • Anthem Blue Cross – waived through December 31st
  • Health Net – waived through July 31st
  • Kaiser – waived through December 31st
  • MolinaCare – waived through December 31st
  • Oscar- waived through July 31st

If you are uncertain about if you should go and visit a doctor, please first take advantage of your insurer’s telemedicine provider and schedule an appointment with a doctor on call. Learn more about telemedicine during COVID-19 by checking our recent blog at https://solidhealthinsurance.com/telemedicine-during-covid-19/

If you are currently uninsured or will soon be uninsured, or have a change of income please contact us at Solid Health Insurance Services at 310-909-6135 or at info@solidhealthinsurance.com and we will be happy to assist you with your health insurance options during this Special Enrollment Period. At Solid Health Insurance Services, we strive to assist our clients in finding the right health, dental, vision, life, and long-term care that meets both your budget and medical needs.