Access Health Deadline Approaching

The deadline to sign up for health insurance on the state's health care exchange is just six days away, and residents who don't enroll in insurance plans could be on the hook for tax penalties.

“We don’t want you to have the penalty," said Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman. "We want you to do what’s best for you and that’s to have health insurance.”

Penalties range in severity depending on the potential amount.

The hit could be up 2 percent of your gross adjusted household income for the tax filing period, or one of three levels: $375 for an individual, $162.50 for a child, and $975 for a family without any kind of health coverage.

So far, Access Health CT has enrolled more than 400,000 Medicaid customers and about 100,000 private health insurance customers, known as Qualifying Health Plans, or QHPs.

Customers can only sign up for coverage outside the open enrollment period – which started in November and ends Sunday night – if they meet certain criteria.

Residents who have gotten married, divorced, had a baby or adopted a child can make changes to their QHP.

The recent Anthem hack has also played a part in enrollment. According to Wyman, of the 100,000 new QHPs, roughly 40,000 were Anthem plans and could have data compromised in the January data breach.

Hackers obtained names, addresses and social security numbers but the company maintains that health records weren't compromised.

"Remember, if you're an Anthem customer that they won't call or email you with information about the breach. They'll only contact you by mail," Wyman said.

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