I do notice that the only red states offering any extension at all are the ones affected by Hurricane Harvey.

I guess we should count our blessings, right?

I am so thankful to live in a blue state.

I went through this last year, and it took a long time. There was a lot of confusion, not much information, and the website kept redirecting me. In other words, I hope people don't just wait until the very last day to try and register.

I live in blue CA and have been dealing with the headaches and stress of the ACA for years and waited until last week to re-enroll. The people had the bugs worked out and were able to help me for over an hour on the phone. I did my homework too. So much varies from state to state. I asked them IF the GOP miraculously grew a heart in 2018 (yeah, sure) and the plans were changed again, for the better or worse, when that would go into effect and was told not until 2019.

http://bettertexasblog.org/2017/09/u-s-hhs-extends-aca-enrollment-opportunities-impacted-harvey/

On September 28, 2017, the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services released guidance outlining new special enrollment period (SEP) rules for people affected by the 2017 hurricanes. This new guidance will provide individuals who were impacted by Harvey additional opportunities to enroll or change their ACA coverage for 2017 and additional time to enroll in coverage for 2018. This guidance only applies to coverage purchased in the Health Insurance Marketplaces created by the ACA.

The guidance makes these new SEPs available to individuals who “reside, or resided at the time of the hurricane, in any of the counties declared as meeting the level of “individual assistance” or “public assistance” by FEMA.” According to FEMA’s website this includes the following Texas counties:

Aransas, Austin*, Bastrop, Bee, Bexar*, Brazoria, Burleson*, Caldwell, Calhoun, Chambers, Colorado, Comal*, Dallas*, DeWitt, Fayette, Fort Bend, Galveston, Goliad, Gonzales, Grimes*, Guadalupe*, Hardin, Harris, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jim Wells*, Karnes, Kleberg, Lavaca, Lee, Liberty, Madison*, Matagorda, Milam*, Montgomery, Newton, Nueces, Orange, Polk, Refugio, Sabine, San Augustine*, San Jacinto, San Patricio, Travis*, Tarrant*, Tyler, Victoria, Washington*, Walker, Waller, and Wharton.

*These counties were designated as eligible for “public assistance” only but are still considered “affected” and therefore people in these counties are eligible for the SEPs.