Lost your job or your health coverage?

Your window

• 60 days before or 60 days after you lose coverage, you can enroll in a Marketplace plan.
• Pick before you lose it and coverage can start the 1st of the month after your old coverage ends, so there's no gap.
• Pick after you lose it and coverage starts the 1st of the month after you pick a plan.

What counts

• Losing job-based coverage: you left a job, your hours were cut, or your employer stopped offering coverage
• COBRA running out, or your former employer stopping its share so you'd pay the full cost
• Losing coverage through a family member (death, divorce, legal separation, or no longer a dependent)
• Your individual plan being discontinued or no longer offered where you live

What doesn't count

• Dropping coverage on purpose, or losing it because premiums weren't paid
• A plan simply ending on December 31 at the end of its plan year
• Dropping COBRA early or stopping COBRA payments outside Open Enrollment

Your income estimate

Marketplace savings are based on what you expect your household to make for the whole year, including what you earned before the job ended and any unemployment compensation. A lower year can mean more help. How tax credits work.

Special Enrollment Period basics

• Most life changes give you 60 days to pick a plan. Losing Medicaid or CHIP gives you 90 days on HealthCare.gov.
• You may need to upload documents that prove the change, generally within 30 days of picking a plan. Your coverage can't be used until that's confirmed and your first premium is paid.
• States that run their own Marketplace may have their own rules and dates. I'll check yours.
• Private plans have their own enrollment rules. They are not ACA plans: they're medically underwritten, approval isn't guaranteed, they may not cover pre-existing conditions, and they don't qualify for tax credits.