Obamacare enrollment deadline not changing in Connecticut

The federal government announced earlier this week that people signing up for health care coverage through the exchanges it runs could get some extra time to enroll. But that doesn’t apply in Connecticut, which runs its own health insurance exchange, known as Access Health CT.

That means that if you live in Connecticut and need private insurance for 2014, you have until the end of Monday to sign up.

The deadline applies to people seeking individual-market private insurance coverage. People who qualify for Medicaid can sign up at any time during the year, as can small businesses.

People who have coverage now but lose it later in the year because of a change in circumstances — such as losing a job, getting divorced or aging out of their parents’ plan — can request a “special enrollment period” to sign up at that time. But that option isn’t available to people who simply decide they want insurance because they get sick. And losing coverage as a result of not paying premiums doesn’t qualify someone for a new enrollment period.