You can buy health coverage outside of the open enrollment period when you have a qualifying life event—through a special enrollment period (SEP). However, the enrollment guidelines have been refined and it is not as easy as it used to be to enroll outside of open enrollment. Most SEP’s last 60 days from the date of the qualifying life event. This quick guide can help.
Qualifying life events for an SEP include:
• Getting married or entering a domestic partnership
• Child aging off a health plan
• Gaining a dependent or becoming a dependent through marriage, birth, adoption, or placement for adoption or foster care
• Permanently moving to a new area that has different health plan options
• Employer coverage not being considered minimum essential coverage
• Losing other healthcare coverage that is considered minimum essential coverage, such as due to job loss or expiration of COBRA coverage
• Returning from active military service
• Change in eligibility for advance premium tax credit or cost-sharing subsidies
Please note that voluntarily terminating your previous health coverage, or being terminated for not paying your health insurance premiums is not considered a qualifying life event.
The above is just a quick guide, but you can call us to make sure that you qualify, and to find out which verification documents (birth certificate, letter from your employer, etc.) that you’ll need to include with an application. Our number is 800-400-6633.