You can’t enroll for health care on Sundays, and other new rules you won’t like

Oct. 23--South Carolina residents who procrastinate during open enrollment to sign up for health care insurance need to be aware of some new changes this year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The time period to enroll has been shortened to 45 days, and the federal website to sign up will not be operational on Sundays when most people have time to complete all the necessary forms.

The enrollment period for 2018 health insurance is Nov. 1 through Dec. 15, and the healthcare.gov website will be closed from 12 a.m. through midnight on Sundays.

To help South Carolina residents understand these and other changes to the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, the Kaiser Family Foundation will host a web briefing for consumers Tuesday at noon.

The briefing will provide information on what plans are available in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia, information on financial assistance and premiums, and outline new rules that will affect coverage for individuals and families.

Consumers can register to take part in the discussion by clicking online here.

Panelists will include: Karen Pollitz, senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation; Jennifer Tolbert, director of state health reform and associate director of the Foundation's Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured; Sarah Sessoms, executive director, Insure Georgia; Jennifer Simmons, navigator project director, North Carolina Navigator Consortium, Legal Aid of North Carolina; and Shelli D. Quenga, director of programs, Palmetto Project, South Carolina.

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