5 Ways to Get Health Insurance Outside Open Enrollment

Open enrollment for 2026 ended on January 15 in most states. If you missed that deadline, you might think you're stuck without coverage until next fall. But that's not true — there are several legitimate ways to get health insurance right now, even outside the annual enrollment window.

Whether you just lost your job, got married, had a baby, or simply forgot to sign up, here are five real options to get covered today.

1. Qualify for a Special Enrollment Period (SEP)

A Special Enrollment Period is the most common way people get marketplace health insurance outside of open enrollment. You don't need to wait until November — you just need a qualifying life event.

A qualifying life event is a significant change in your circumstances that triggers a 60-day window to enroll in or change your health insurance plan. The most common qualifying events include:

• Losing your existing health coverage (from a job, Medicaid, or a parent's plan)
• Getting married or divorced
• Having or adopting a baby
• Moving to a new ZIP code or county
• Experiencing a change in household income that affects your subsidy eligibility

There are also less obvious qualifying events that many people don't know about. Turning 26 and aging off a parent's plan qualifies you. Gaining citizenship or legal immigration status qualifies you. Being released from incarceration qualifies you. And in some states, becoming pregnant now counts as a qualifying life event starting in 2026.

The key detail most people miss is the timeline. You typically have 60 days from the date of the qualifying event to enroll. For some events like losing coverage, the 60-day window starts before the coverage ends, giving you time to plan ahead.

Not sure if you qualify? Use our Special Enrollment Period Qualifier to answer a few quick questions and find out instantly whether your situation opens an enrollment window.

2. Apply for Medicaid (Available Year-Round)

Unlike marketplace plans, Medicaid has no enrollment period. You can apply any day of the year, any month, no qualifying event needed. If you qualify, coverage can start almost immediately — often retroactive to the beginning of the month you applied.

Medicaid eligibility is based primarily on your household income and your state's rules. In the 41 states (plus DC) that have expanded Medicaid under the ACA, adults with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level generally qualify. For 2026, that's about $21,597 per year for an individual or $36,777 for a family of three.

Even in the 10 states that haven't expanded Medicaid, children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities may still qualify at higher income levels through traditional Medicaid and CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program).

Many people who think they earn too much for Medicaid are actually surprised to find they qualify, especially if their income has recently decreased due to a job change, reduced hours, or becoming self-employed.

Use our Medicaid Eligibility Checker to see if you qualify in your state. It takes about 30 seconds and checks your income against your state's specific thresholds.

3. Get Covered Through an Employer

Employer-sponsored health insurance operates on its own timeline, separate from the ACA marketplace. If you start a new job that offers health benefits, you'll typically have a 30 to 60-day enrollment window from your start date to sign up for your employer's plan — regardless of what time of year it is.

This is one of the most overlooked paths to coverage. Even part-time workers may be eligible for employer health benefits at larger companies. Under the ACA, employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees are required to offer affordable health coverage to employees who work at least 30 hours per week.

If you're currently uninsured and job hunting, it's worth asking about health benefits during the interview process. Some employers begin coverage on your first day, while others have a waiting period of up to 90 days.

One important consideration is the interaction between employer coverage and marketplace subsidies. If your employer offers coverage that meets the ACA's affordability standard (meaning your share of the premium for self-only coverage is less than 9.12% of your household income for 2026), you generally won't qualify for marketplace subsidies. However, thanks to the Family Glitch fix implemented in 2023, affordability is now assessed separately for family members, which means your spouse and children may still qualify for subsidized marketplace coverage even if your employer plan is considered affordable for you.

4. Explore COBRA Continuation Coverage

If you recently left a job that provided health insurance — whether you quit, were laid off, or had your hours reduced — you likely have the option to continue your employer's plan through COBRA.

COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) allows you to keep your exact same employer health plan for up to 18 months after leaving the job. The catch is that you pay the entire premium yourself, including the portion your employer used to cover, plus a 2% administrative fee. This means COBRA premiums are often $600 to $800 per month for individual coverage and $1,500 to $2,200 for family coverage.

COBRA gives you 60 days from losing coverage to decide whether to elect it. Importantly, losing your employer coverage also qualifies you for a marketplace Special Enrollment Period, so you can compare both options.

For many people, especially those who qualify for marketplace subsidies, a marketplace plan will be significantly cheaper than COBRA while offering comparable coverage. But if you're in the middle of treatment with specific doctors who aren't in marketplace plan networks, COBRA may be worth the higher cost to maintain continuity of care.

Use our COBRA vs. Marketplace Calculator to compare the actual costs side by side based on your specific situation.

5. Look Into Short-Term Health Insurance (With Caution)

Short-term health insurance plans can be purchased at any time of year with no qualifying event required. They're designed as temporary gap coverage — for example, if you're between jobs or waiting for employer coverage to start.

Short-term plans typically have much lower monthly premiums than ACA marketplace plans. However, there are critical differences you need to understand before signing up:

• Short-term plans are not required to cover the ACA's essential health benefits. This means they can exclude coverage for things like prescription drugs, mental health services, maternity care, and preventive care.
• They can deny coverage for pre-existing conditions.
• They often have low annual or lifetime coverage caps.
• They do not count as minimum essential coverage in states that still have an individual mandate (California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, and DC).

Short-term plans also do not qualify for premium tax credits or cost-sharing reductions, so you'll always pay the full price.

In some states, short-term plans are heavily restricted or banned entirely. States like California, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey either prohibit them or limit them to very short durations.

What About Health Care Sharing Ministries?

You may have seen advertisements for health care sharing ministries, which are faith-based organizations where members share each other's medical costs. These are not insurance — they are not regulated by state insurance departments, they are not required to pay claims, and they do not cover pre-existing conditions.

While some people have had positive experiences with sharing ministries, they come with significant financial risk. There is no legal guarantee that your medical bills will be covered, and many members have reported being left with large unpaid bills. We do not recommend these as a substitute for actual health insurance.

Your Next Steps

Here's a quick checklist to figure out your best path to coverage right now:

1. Check if you had a recent life change that qualifies you for a Special Enrollment Period. Use our SEP Qualifier to find out in under a minute.
2. Check your Medicaid eligibility. If your income is near or below 138% FPL in an expansion state, you could get free coverage starting this month. Use our Medicaid Eligibility Checker.
3. If you recently lost employer coverage, compare COBRA against marketplace options. Use our COBRA vs. Marketplace Calculator to see which saves you more.
4. Explore plans available in your county. Visit your county page to see insurers, premiums, and plan details specific to where you live.

Going without health insurance is a serious financial risk. A single emergency room visit can cost $5,000 to $50,000 or more. The options above exist specifically to make sure you can get covered — even after open enrollment has passed.

Find Plans in Your County →

This article was last updated March 2026. Enrollment rules, deadlines, and eligibility criteria vary by state and can change. Always verify details on HealthCare.gov, your state's marketplace, or with a licensed insurance professional before making coverage decisions.