Open enrollment is usually the one time of year you can change your health insurance coverage. But outside that window, you might need to get a new policy or change who is covered—and you can, under some circumstances. Here’s what you should know about qualifying life events and special enrollment periods.
What is a qualifying life event?
A QLE is a change in your household, location of residence, income or employer coverage.
- Household changes include getting married, having a baby, adopting or fostering a child, and losing coverage due to legal separation, divorce or death.
- Residence changes include moving to a new ZIP code or county and moving to the U.S.
- Employer changes include losing coverage due to reduced hours, a layoff or voluntary departure, expecting to lose coverage within 60 days or becoming eligible for employer coverage.
- Income changes mean that your income has decreased enough that you qualify for cost-sharing savings—or increased enough that you no longer qualify.
- Other changes include losing Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage, no longer qualifying as a dependent child, losing student coverage, or being unable to enroll on time due to a natural disaster or serious illness.
How long is a special enrollment period?
It’s important to act quickly to secure new coverage after a qualifying life event. You’ll typically have just 60 days before or after the event to enroll. That may sound like plenty of time, but it’s best to start right away. It takes a while to learn about your options, make an informed decision and complete the enrollment paperwork.
We’re available to help you with those tasks, and we’re happy to answer your coverage questions about qualifying life events or anything else.