Deadline for insurance signups extended for some

A special enrollment period has been created in Missouri for buying health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

The actual deadline for sign-ups for government marketplace insurance was Sunday, but some people were unable to complete enrollment because of long call center wait times Feb. 13, 14 and 15. Others may have experienced technical problems with income verification for their applications on Healthcare.gov, according to a news release from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Only those who were unable to complete their applications because of the recent problems can use the special enrollment period, which began Monday and lasts until Feb. 22. The effective coverage date of plan enrollments made in the period will be March 1.

As of Feb. 6, more than 226,000 Missouri consumers had selected a plan through the federal marketplace during the regular enrollment period, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported last week. The regular enrollment period for 2015 plans began Nov. 15. In the local Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes St. Louis and other portions of Missouri and Illinois, there were 100,084 sign-ups for 2015 as of Feb. 6.

The department also reported in a news release last week that Missouri consumers were qualifying for an average tax credit of $284 a month through the marketplace, and the tax credits were reducing monthly premiums by 77 percent.

More information is available at healthcare.gov.