How do I qualify for coverage outside Open Enrollment?

There are a handful of special circumstances and life events that could qualify you for a Special Enrollment period. This begins 60 days before the trigger event and lasts 60 days after the trigger event date.

Very recently, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, several states have reopened their exchanges to allow for uninsured residents to apply for health insurance. 

Current open exchanges offering COVID-19 Special Enrollments: 

California, Colorado, Washington State, Washington DC, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Connecticut, Nevada, New York, Maryland, and Vermont

These qualifying events require no documentation and subject to many of the same eligibility rules as a typical open enrollment!

The most common “qualifying events” for folks in other states include:

1. You or a dependent lose job-based coverage
2. You are no longer Medicaid eligible 
3. You get married or divorced
4. You have a baby, or adopt
5. You are turning 26 and aging off your parent's plan
6. You permanently move out of state and gain access to new plans
7. You gained access to an individual coverage HRA or a Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement (QSEHRA) in the past 60 days or expect to in the next 60 days.
8. You gain US citizenship
9. You are or gain status as a Native American Indian
10. Your income changes significantly, making you newly eligible (or ineligible) for subsidies

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If you have a baby, adopt a child, or place a child for foster care: Your coverage can start the day of the event – even if you enroll in the plan up to 60 days afterward.

For other qualifying events, plans start on the first of the month following purchase of health insurance.