Enroll in your spouse’s employer-sponsored plan, if you can. Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), you and your dependents can do this ASAP, without waiting until the next enrollment period. Here's the catch: You must request this so-called special enrollment within 30 days of losing your previous health benefits.
How to Get Insurance Coverage for a Preexisting Condition
It helps to live in the Northeast, but it you don't, here's what to do Read more
If you're single or can’t get covered by your spouse, sign up for a COBRA extension. Under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, you and your family have the right to extend your current health plan for up to 18 months after you are laid off. (If your former employer has fewer than 20 employees, you may not be eligible for a COBRA plan.) You will have to pay for 100% of the coverage rather than sharing the cost with your employer, but it is still usually cheaper than buying an equivalent policy on your own.
Keep an eye on the mail. After your employer notifies the insurer that you’ve been terminated, the insurer must inform you of your COBRA rights in writing within 14 days. Once this notice is sent by your insurer—not once you receive it—the clock starts ticking: You have 60 days to enroll in the plan. (If your existing coverage expires after the notice is sent, you have 60 days from the expiration date.)
…62 days
And we really mean 62 days. Under HIPAA, if you go without health insurance for 63 days or more, you will be subject to a preexisting-condition exclusion. When you enroll in a new health plan, the insurer can exclude from coverage any health condition—cancer, heart disease, diabetes—for which you received treatment in the six months leading up to your enrollment. This exclusion period can last for up to 12 months (or 18 months if you join the health plan late), but you can offset it by producing your certificate of creditable coverage, which you remembered to ask for on day 1. If you can prove that you’ve had continuous health insurance for more than 12 months without a gap of 63 days or more, the new health plan will not be able to impose a preexisting-condition exclusion.
