Obamacare deadline is extended for those who had technical problems; state may also extend it for those facing a tax penalty

Were you unable to sign up for Kynect health insurance by the Sunday deadline because of technical problems? You now have until Feb. 28 to sign up. “And like other states and the federal government, Kentucky officials are also considering a ‘special enrollment period’ for those who find out at tax time that they’ll have to pay a penalty if they’re not insured,” Laura Ungar reports for The Courier-Journal.

Kynect Executive Director Carrie Banahan said Kentuckians who experienced technical problems and believe they qualify for an extension should contact the Kynect call center at 855-459-6328. Ungar explains, “The Saturday outage of an Internal Revenue Service function for Obamacare enrollment prevented some people from getting their income verified so they could enroll on HealthCare.gov,” the federal website used in most other states.

“Officials with the federal government and several other states said they saw a surge similar to what Kentucky experienced in the final days of enrollment — partly from people who realized for the first time they would face an IRS penalty at tax time,” Ungar reports. The penalty for not having coverage in 2014 is 1 percent of annual household income, or $95 per adult and $47.50 per child, whichever is higher. Not having coverage in 2015 will incur a penalty of 2 percent, or $325 per adult or $167.50 per child, whichever is more.