Wellcare Issues SEP in Texas for Hurricane Beryl

Special Enrollment Period: Texas Emergency Declaration – Hurricane Beryl

Please be advised that FEMA declared a State of Emergency for certain Texas counties. This declaration allows for a one-time Special Enrollment Period (SEP), in the event beneficiaries could not make an election during another qualifying election period. Please reference the following guidelines for the incident period. This DST-SEP applies to the Texas counties listed below.

Important Compliance Information

Who is eligible:

This SEP opportunity is ONLY available to beneficiaries who:​

• Reside, or resided at the start of the DST-SEP eligibility period described in this guidance, in an area for which a federal, state or local government entity has declared a disaster or other emergency or they do not reside in an affected area but rely on help making healthcare decisions from one or more individuals who reside in an affected area; and
• Were eligible for another election period at the time of the DST-SEP eligibility period, and;
• Did not make an election during that other valid election period due to the disaster or other emergency.

Details:

Impacted Counties: Anderson, Angelina, Aransas, Austin, Bowie, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Calhoun, Cameron, Camp, Cass, Chambers, Cherokee, Colorado, DeWitt, Fayette, Fort Bend, Freestone, Galveston, Goliad, Gregg, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Harrison, Hidalgo, Houston, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Kenedy, Kleberg, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Marion, Matagorda, Milam, Montgomery, Morris, Nacogdoches, Newton, Nueces, Orange, Panola, Polk, Refugio, Robertson, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, San Patricio, Shelby, Trinity, Tyler, Upshur, Victoria, Walker, Waller, Washington, Webb, Wharton, Willacy

Incident Period: The incident period is July 5, 2024, through July 9, 2024. The FEMA declaration was announced on July 9, 2024.

Timeframe: Effective immediately, individuals meeting the abovementioned requirements can enroll, dis-enroll, or switch MAPD or PDP plans until September 30, 2024.

*Note: Eligible enrollments will be effective the first of the month after the application has been processed.

Reminders:

Agents can accept/submit a Medicare Advantage or Prescription Drug Plan application by the beneficiary’s request through the following steps:

1. Obtain a compliant Consent to Contact (C2C).
2. Capture a compliant Scope of Appointment (SOA).
3. Host a compliant 1:1 appointment.
4. If the beneficiary is prepared to enroll, complete an application noting this SEP, by selecting the Emergency or Major Disaster option. WARNING! Only select one election type.

Wellcare will communicate any changes to this DST-SEP, if necessary, when they become available. Please visit our DST-SEP Resource for a complete listing of all active, pending and recently expired SEP notifications.

As always, thank you for your partnership.