Enrollment Period

If you are looking to sign up for health care coverage, please note that under the Affordable Care Act, there are only two particular time periods you are eligible to do so.

Open Enrollment Period

The yearly period in the fall when people can enroll in a health insurance plan for the next calendar year. Open Enrollment for 2022 runs from November 1 through January 15, 2022. Enroll by December 15 for coverage that starts January 1.

Special Enrollment Period

Outside the Open Enrollment Period, you generally can enroll in a health insurance plan only if you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period. You’re eligible if you have certain life events, like getting married, having a baby, or losing other health coverage.

Outside the Open Enrollment Period, you can generally enroll in a health insurance plan if you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period. Special enrollment periods are reserved for individuals who require a modified time frame to enroll in health coverage due to a qualifying life event (QLE). QLEs are certain life changes that may require a change in your insurance needs, including:

Having a baby, adopting a child, or placing a child up for adoption
Getting married
Losing other health coverage by losing a job-based plan, aging off your parents’ coverage at age 26, divorce, or losing eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP
Being denied Medicaid or CHIP coverage
Moving your residence outside your insurance plan’s service area
Gaining citizenship
Gaining status as a member of a federally recognized tribe or shareholder in an Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) Corporation

Leaving incarceration
Experiencing a change in income or household status that will affect eligibility for premium tax credits or cost-sharing reductions for those enrolled in Marketplace coverage
You or your dependents’ enrollment or non-enrollment in another benefit health plan was made as a result of an error by the Health Insurance Marketplace
You or your dependents demonstrated that the health benefit plan you were previously enrolled in substantially violated material provisions of the contract