Residents in Idaho and Washington have until just before midnight Tuesday to purchase healthcare coverage through the states’ health insurance exchanges.
Plans bought before the deadline will be valid for all of 2017, whether or not the Affordable Care Act is repealed.
This year’s open enrollment period began on November 1st and ends tonight at 11:59 PM. People who don’t receive insurance through an employer or who are ineligible for government programs like Medicaid and Medicare can purchase private insurance plans on Idaho’s Your Health Idaho, or Washington’s Healthplanfinder, the online marketplaces that allow side-by-side comparison of different plans.
More than 100-thousand Idahoans have enrolled for 2017 health insurance coverage through Your Health Idaho, while more than 216-thousand people in Washington state have used that state’s site to sign up for coverage between November 1st and January 24th – a 15 percent increase over last year’s open enrollment period.
Idaho’s exchange website is www.yourhealthidaho.org, and Washington’s is www.wahealthplanfinder.org. (Idaho Statesman, Spokesman-Review)
