RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey on Monday announced that Medicare beneficiaries impacted by Hurricane Dorian have been granted a Special Enrollment Period to sign up for 2020 benefits.
The Special Enrollment Period will give beneficiaries extra time to enroll in a Medicare health or prescription drug plan due to the unforeseen circumstances that accompany a natural disaster.
The 2020 Medicare Open Enrollment period ended on December 7, 2019. However, the Special Enrollment Period will allow those affected by the storm to enroll through January 31, 2020. Coverage will begin February 1, 2020.
The Special Enrollment Period is in effect for the 26 North Carolina counties declared major disaster areas as a result of Hurricane Florence:
- Beaufort
- Brunswick
- Camden
- Carteret
- Columbus
- Craven
- Currituck
- Dare
- Duplin
- Greene
- Hoke
- Hyde
- Jones
- Lenoir
- New Hanover
- Onslow
- Pamlico
- Pasquotank
- Pender
- Perquimans
- Pitt
- Robeson
- Sampson
- Tyrrell
- Washington
- Wayne
The extension applies to two sets of residents: Those who live in the disaster zones as well as others living outside the 26 counties who rely on help from people living in the affected areas.
For more information, call 855-408-1212.