Health Insurance Marketplace

If you or your spouse become eligible for health insurance from a program like Medicaid or Medicare it counts as a qualifying life event and you can change your coverage. The same is true for losing eligibility for one of those programs.

Under the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) you can only get coverage that qualifies for cost assistance and offers all of ObamaCare’s benefits during each year’s open enrollment peroid.

Generally, you should sign up for the marketplace ASAP and then enroll in a marketplace plan starting 60 days before your old coverage ends.

If you move to a new state you have 60 days to enroll in a plan via special enrollment in that states Marketplace. There will never be an instance where you move out of state and aren’t allowed to enroll in an individual health plan

The best way to provide coverage for another person who you don’t file taxes with is to look into their cost assistance options through ObamaCare first and then look at private or employer options.

You can switch health plans via ObamaCare’s special enrollment every time you have a qualifying life event, even if it’s the same event more than once.

You can’t switch plans outside of open enrollment unless you have a qualifying life event that qualifies you for special enrollment.

If you enroll in a policy and never pay the first month premium then the policy never starts. You should still attempt to cancel the policy to avoid potential tax issues

If you get a job that offers health insurance you will become ineligible for cost assistance once that coverage starts, thus you should drop the ObamaCare plan as close to your new coverage start date as possible avoiding owing back tax credits and a gap in coverage.

When COBRA ends it triggers a 60 day special enrollment window to enroll in HealthCare.Gov or your state’s Marketplace. Enroll before COBRA ends to avoid gaps in coverage.

If a family member wasn’t added to a family plan during open enrollment they won’t be able to be added until next open enrollment unless they qualify for special enrollment.

If you have a disability you can get ObamaCare. Cost assistance eligibility is based on household MAGI income, disability income can count toward MAGI.

The next open enrollment period for ObamaCare will be Nov 1st, 2015 – Jan 31, 2016. Enroll before Dec 15 for coverage starting Jan 1st, 2016.

If a spouse moves and thus a dependent loses coverage the other spouse can claim the dependent and use special enrollment to add them to a family plan.

If you purchase insurance during open enrollment it won’t start until the 1st of January, if you enroll after December 15 it starts February 1st.

To switch to an individual plan from a family plan outside of open enrollment you need to have a qualifying life event that triggers a special enrollment period.

There is no age limit for getting a Marketplace plan, but you must be over 18 to enroll in your own plan and must not have access to Medicare.

You can only add a dependent to a family plan outside of open enrollment if they have a qualifying life event.

You can appeal any HealthCare.Gov or state Marketplace decision in regards to coverage or cost. Typically the process will take 90 days at most.