Ten Qualifying Events That Get You Health Insurance Outside of Open Enrollment
Open enrollment for 2017 ends on January 31, 2017. If you’re reading this after the 31st, then you or someone you care about has missed the deadline for any number of reasons. That’s life. It gets in the way. But all hope is not lost because there are special 60-day enrollment windows that you can climb through to enroll or switch plans anyway. The caveat? Qualifying events. A fancy term for “big life changes.”
What counts as a qualifying event? Here are ten common ones:
- Moving. Moving to a new state means special enrollment because each state has its own plans. But even moving within a state can qualify, because some states have plans only offered in certain regions.
- Lost coverage. The involuntary loss of minimum essential coverage is what we mean. Cases of lost pregnancy-associated Medicaid coverage are also included.
- Marriage. Congratulations! You have a 60-day open enrollment window that starts on your wedding day.
- You got divorced. Hard times, but at least you have a fallback plan. If you lost your plan in the split, you qualify based on the loss of coverage rule.
- You gave birth or adopted a child. In this scenario, your coverage is generally backdated to the time of birth, adoption, or start of foster care, as the case may be.
- Your income changed. Whether it’s a high or a low, if the change makes you eligible or ineligible for premium tax credits or cost-sharing subsidies, you qualify.
- You found mistakes in your enrollment. An error made by your exchange, Health & Human Services or an enrollment official can be corrected or altered outside of open enrollment.
- You became a citizen. Another big life event deserving of congratulations. This only applies to on-exchange coverage, since off-exchange coverage is not required to offer special enrollment.
- You lost your student health insurance. We’re proud of you for graduating, but we also want you covered. So know that you qualify!
- Your parent’s health plan stopped covering you. Happy 26th! This gives you 60 days to adult up. We can help.
We know it’s overwhelming, and we know it’s more complex than a ten-item list. Whether it’s understanding the criteria, or providing proof of your big life change, BuyHealthInsurance.com is here to help you get anything and everything you qualify for. Because it should be a given.
