Pennsylvania’s health insurance marketplace is open for business.

Open enrollment with Pennie – the state health insurance marketplace – runs through Jan. 19

As we head into 2024, it is a great time to think about ways to stay healthy. Maybe by eating better, exercising, or practicing mindfulness. One important part of maintaining your health and well-being is access to routine health care for things like immunizations, check-ups and other preventative care.

In Pennsylvania, we’re fortunate to have Pennie, the commonwealth’s official health insurance marketplace, where you can shop and enroll in a health plan. I was proud to support the legislation that created Pennie in 2019, establishing a state-run marketplace aligned to the Affordable Care Act – or Obamacare. Pennie allows all Pennsylvanians to shop for high-quality and affordable health insurance. It can even connect eligible people with financial assistance to help reduce the cost of coverage and care.

Pennie’s open enrollment period, which runs through Jan. 19, is a great time to explore your options, evaluate your health insurance needs, and shop for a plan that works for you, even if you already have insurance.

There are a lot of options for coverage. Pennie includes both health and dental plans, and all plans are required to cover the 10 essential benefits, like no cost preventative services, prescription drugs, and access to mental health care. And the increased competition on Pennie means you and other people across the state have more options and better affordability.

While you may be able to purchase insurance on other websites, Pennie is the only place where Pennsylvanians can get financial savings to reduce the cost of coverage and care.

Currently, 9 in 10 enrollees qualify and save over $500 a month on average! And nearly 40% of Pennie’s more than 350,000 enrollees pay less than $75 a month, and some even qualify for free coverage.

Choosing and purchasing insurance can seem overwhelming, but if you have questions, Pennie is there to help.

The Pennie website has many tools and resources to help you navigate the marketplace and evaluate plans. But if you prefer, you can talk to someone on the phone, chat virtually with a member of the customer service team or send them a message online. You can even find a local expert right here in our community who can help. And help is available in a variety of languages. Visit Pennie.com/connect to find the help you need.

Right now, our region has more people without health insurance than any other part of Pennsylvania, which means our neighbors may be missing important medical care to prevent and treat illness or get caught footing a large bill in the case of a serious illness or injury.

Maintaining your health is a gift you can give yourself this holiday season, so don’t be caught without insurance when you need it, log-in to Pennie.com to learn more, or reach out to my office at (215) 748-6712 or stop by 149 South 60 St., Philadelphia for help.