RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Insurance Commissioner’s office is taking steps to help those affected by the Moore County power outage.

On Thursday, the commissioner approved a special enrollment period for Medicare beneficiaries affected by the outage. This will give those affected another two months to enroll and make changes to their plans. The new deadline is Feb. 8.

“When you lose power, you lose access and a lot of people would need that change to continue their coverage,” said Jason Tyson, spokesperson for the Department of Insurance. 

The department said it’s been in touch with insurance companies letting them know about the outage. Commissioner Mike Causey said in a statement that he’s asking companies to relax due dates for premium payments, extend grace periods, waive late fees and penalties, and consider cancellation or non-renewal of policies only after exhausting other efforts to work with policyholders to continue coverage.

Some insurance providers will provide coverage on spoiled food but the department said county residents should call your provider and see if that’s an option for you.