ST. PAUL — The deadline has arrived for enrolling in Minnesota’s health insurance exchange for coverage that will begin Friday.

The open enrollment period ends Jan. 31. But, today is the deadline for coverage to start at the first of the year.

Enrolling for health insurance through the marketplace may delay the date of coverage starts and could subject you to a fine through the Affordable Care Act mandate. The penalty could be up to $695 or more when filing taxes in 2016.

MNsure is offering help at hundreds of free enrollment events across the state through the end of January. The events can be found at MNsureEvents.org.