During the times outside the annual enrollment period, you can only apply for health insurance if you qualify for a special enrollment period (SEP). This goes for health plans both on and off the health insurance exchanges.
To qualify for a special enrollment period, you must have a “life-changing event.” Qualifying events include:
- Getting married
- Having a child
- Adopting a child
- Fostering a child
- Moving out of your current coverage’s service area
- Losing your existing health insurance under certain conditions including:
- Loss of group coverage through your employer
- Your COBRA coverage expired
- You get divorced
- You come off your parent’s group coverage
- Your plan was terminated by the carrier
- You lose your Medicaid eligibility, CHIP eligibility, or similar situation
- Becoming a U.S. citizen
- Leaving incarceration
- Becoming a member of an indian tribe: those in a federally recognized tribe can apply for new coverage/make changes to their existing coverage once a month throughout the year
Please note, voluntarily terminating your existing coverage or your coverage was terminated by the carrier because you didn’t pay your premiums are NOT considered qualifying events for a special enrollment period.
If you have any questions about health insurance plans or would like a free quote comparison, please feel free to give us a call at 1-800-571-2980. You can also reach us by e-mail at Info@terminsurancebrokers.com 24 hours a day.
