News Release
Contact
Laurie E. Bick-Jensen
Director,
Public Relations
320 DuPont Highway
New Castle, DE
19720
(302) 295-1164
laurie.e.bick@wilmu.edu
Free Health Insurance Sign Up Event Held at Wilmington University in New Castle
Choose Health Delaware's Marketplace guides provided families and individuals with help in signing up for health care benefits.
Delawareans who needed to apply for health insurance got free help at the Choose Health Delaware sign-up event at the Pratt Student Center on the University main campus in New Castle.
Choose Health Delaware sponsored the event to make it possible for anyone who still needs health care coverage to sign-up before the open enrollment period ends on February 15.
The event was of special help for those who were not sure about the process and needed assistance to ensure they were enrolled correctly. Marketplace guides – certified enrollment specialists – were on-hand to help students, individuals and families apply for and enroll for health care coverage.
The event was open to the public as well as the University community and was held in connection with National Youth Enrollment Day.
Under the Affordable Care Act, all eligible residents are required to have qualifying health coverage, obtain an exemption, or pay a fee with their federal tax return.
Benefits of health insurance purchased through the Marketplace include coverage of pre-existing conditions, outpatient care, emergency services, hospitalization, prescription drugs, mental health and substance use disorder services, lab services, pediatric services and more.
Those without coverage or an exemption in 2015 will pay the higher of these two amounts as a penalty:
- 2% of your yearly household income. (Only the amount above the tax filing threshold, about $10,000 for an individual, is used to calculate the penalty.)
- $325 per adult for the whole year. $162.50 per child under 18. The maximum penalty per family using this method is $975.
In addition to the penalty, individuals who are not covered will be 100 percent responsible for any medical expenses they incur.
More than 80 percent of Delawareans who enrolled in 2014 through the Health Insurance Marketplace received help paying for their insurance.
The sign-up event was sponsored by Choose Health Delaware, the State’s resource for the Health Insurance Marketplace.
For more information about enrollment and where to find free enrollment assistance every day through February 15, go to www.ChooseHealthDE.com.
About Wilmington University
Wilmington University is a private, nonprofit institution committed to providing flexible, career-oriented, traditional and online associate, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs. Ranked as the second fastest growing doctoral institution in America 2002 – 2012 by The Almanac of The Chronicle of Higher Education, affordable tuition, academic excellence and individualized attention are hallmarks of the University that enable greater student success in their chosen careers. For more information, contact Wilmington University at 302-356-INFO (4636), via email at infocenter@wilmu.edu, or visit our website: www.wilmu.edu.
