ObamaCare Special Enrollments

ObamaCare Special Enrollment Period

A special enrollment period time outside of the open enrollment period when you and your family can sign up for health insurance. You may qualify for a special enrollment period of 60 days following certain life events that involve a change in family status (for example, marriage or birth of a child) or loss of other health coverage.

If you don’t have a special enrollment period, you can’t buy insurance inside or outside the Marketplace until the next open enrollment period. Job-based plans generally allow special enrollment periods of 30 days.

The following life events will generally qualify you for a special enrollment period.

• Getting married
• Having, adopting, or placement of a child
• Permanently moving to a new area that offers different health plan options
• Losing other health coverage (for example due to a job loss, divorce, loss of eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP, expiration of COBRA coverage, or a health plan being decertified). Note: Voluntarily quitting other health coverage or being terminated for not paying your premiums are not considered loss of coverage. Losing coverage that is not minimum essential coverage is also not considered loss of coverage.)
• For people already enrolled in Marketplace coverage, having a change in income or household status that affects eligibility for tax credits or cost-sharing reductions

Source: "ObamaCare Facts: Affordable Care Act, Health Insurance Marketplace." ObamaCare Facts: Affordable Care Act, Health Insurance Marketplace. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.