I Will be Retiring When Do I Have to Sign up for Health Coverage?
I will be retiring December 31st of 2017. When do I have to sign up for coverage? Upon retirement I will loose coverage and as I am 62 will not be eligible for other affordable options. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Answer
Generally, you should sign up for the marketplace ASAP and then enroll in a marketplace plan starting 60 days before your old coverage ends.
So if you lose employer coverage because you retire June 1st, 2018 enroll starting April 1st and coordinate it with the marketplace so the new plan starts June 1st.
You'll need to use special enrollment to do this. You should call the marketplace for assistance.
NOTE: You have up to 60 days after losing coverage to enroll (60 days before, and 60 days after; this can change depending on which special enrollment option you are using, so do call the marketplace). Keep in mind though, if you wait too close to the date the new plan starts, you may experince a coverage gap while you wait for coverage to start. To be safe, enroll at least 30 days in advance! Keep in mind that during open enrollment other options are offered, but outside of open enrollment you'll need to use the marketplace.