After making all the appropriate statements about how awful the restrictions were and about the tragic loss of life, people will be talking for years about the positive things that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic. America—and the world, really—has re-evaluated its priorities and changed the way we think about work. People discovered how to do things remotely. We learned how to Zoom, homeschool children, order groceries, food, and pretty much everything else to be delivered to our door, and even visit the doctor from the comfort of our own home. And the uninsured rate reached record lows.

Back in 2010, shortly after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, there were predictions that 30 million people would gain health coverage under the Affordable Care Act. That number was used to convince lawmakers to support the law, to sway public opinion, and to develop multi-year budgets.

You may have heard the rumors, but now it’s official: the open enrollment period in the individual market has been extended to January 15 in states that use the Federally-Facilitated Marketplace (Healthcare.gov). The new end date was announced by CMS in a September 17th update to the 2022 Notice of Payment and Benefit Parameters.

We recently wrote about the expected increase in demand for individual health plans this fall. Millions of workers have lost their group coverage due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so they’ll be shopping for insurance in the individual market.

At this point, most agents have begun to realize that there might be a higher-than-normal demand for individual health insurance this fall. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a lot of companies to furlough or lay off employees, causing them to lose their health coverage. While COBRA is an option for some, others worked for companies that have had to drop their group health plan altogether, leaving them with no continuation option.

The state of Florida has more people enrolled in ACA individual coverage through Healthcare.gov than any other state in the nation, and it’s not particularly close. According to a list published by CMS: