For those who qualify for health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the window to apply will close in less than three weeks. The deadline to apply on healthcare-dot-gov will close February 15. Gloria Baca is with the regional office of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Denver. She says people who don’t have insurance or don’t have access to coverage should get started, but she says the website has been more popular with South Dakotans this year than last year…
Baca says some people are concerned because only three providers are available to South Dakotans, but she says there are 38 different plans from those providers and assistance is also available based on the applicant’s income. Those who don’t enroll and who don’t have health insurance may be required to pay a financial penalty and they also could be barred from the market for the rest of the year.