Staff reports |  If you are uninsured and want health insurance but missed signing up in a short window just before Christmas, you have until May 15 to apply for coverage.  Local groups are ready to help.

Last month, an executive order by President Joe Biden, who promised to make health care more affordable and available for people without work-provided coverage, reopened Affordable Care Act enrollment on the federal health insurance exchange in a special enrollment period. 

The Palmetto Project’s director of programs, Shelli Quenga, said that the only thing stopping many people from enrolling before was the lack of information, and the new administration has helped. 

“When people know the facts and the truth of the ability to enroll, that really helps,” Quenga said. “Most people are covered by their employer-sponsored coverage, but they just don’t know how individual coverage works. It’s stuff you don’t need to know until you need to know it.”