As you assist clients during Open Enrollment, you want to remind them to make binder payments by the earliest possible deadline. What is the earliest possible payment deadline date to include in your reminder?

As you assist clients during Open Enrollment, you want to remind them to make binder payments by the earliest possible deadline. What is the earliest possible payment deadline date to include in your reminder?

• A. January 1
• B. January 15
• C. December 31
• D. February 1

Answer: (A)

Binder payments are the action that binds a consumer to a plan, and the payment must be received by the plan’s effective date to ensure the enrollment takes effect. For Open Enrollment where the chosen plan starts on January 1, the earliest date that a payment can reliably bind that coverage is January 1 itself. If the payment isn’t received by that date, the enrollment may not bind for January 1, and the consumer could lose the intended start date. That’s why January 1 is the correct earliest deadline to include in your reminder. The other dates either come after the start date (February 1, January 15) or aren’t the binding date for a January 1 start, so they aren’t the earliest workable deadline.

Binder payments are the action that binds a consumer to a plan, and the payment must be received by the plan’s effective date to ensure the enrollment takes effect. For Open Enrollment where the chosen plan starts on January 1, the earliest date that a payment can reliably bind that coverage is January 1 itself. If the payment isn’t received by that date, the enrollment may not bind for January 1, and the consumer could lose the intended start date. That’s why January 1 is the correct earliest deadline to include in your reminder. The other dates either come after the start date (February 1, January 15) or aren’t the binding date for a January 1 start, so they aren’t the earliest workable deadline.