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Special Enrollment Period For Health Coverage Begins February 15

This image provided by U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service shows the website for HealthCare.gov. A special enrollment period to sign up for health coverage runs from February 15th through May 15th. (Credit: U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service via AP)

North Carolinians will soon have another opportunity to sign up for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act. A special enrollment period begins February 15.

An executive order signed by President Joe Biden establishes a special three-month signup for coverage through the ACA.

According to a White House news release, the order is meant to reverse the previous administration's attacks on the ACA, which officials say made it more difficult to enroll.

The action from the White House comes at a time when many people have lost their job-based health insurance because of the pandemic. 

In North Carolina, help is available through the NC Navigator Consortium, which offers free assistance to consumers seeking coverage through Healthcare.gov. 

Mark Van Arnam is the director of the consortium. He says that appointments can go quickly and encourages people to take action now.

The special ACA enrollment period will end on May 15.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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