What Qualifies as a Life Event?
Here’s a quick list of common qualifying life events:
- Birth or Adoption of a Child: An increase in family size is a qualifying life event.
- Moving to a New Area: A significant move that changes your health plan’s service area is a qualifying life event. This means you may need to enroll in a new plan that covers your new location.
- Lost Coverage: There are many reasons you may lose health insurance such as losing a dependent, a spouse, a job or another financial change. Most losses of coverage are considered Qualifying life events.
- There may be other special situations that allow you to update your health coverage.
How a Qualifying Life Event Works
When a qualifying life event happens, you have a 60-day window to make changes to your health insurance. During this period, you can:
- Enroll in a new plan
- Adjust your current coverage
- Add or remove dependents
It’s important to act quickly. Once the 60-day window closes, you may have to wait for the next open enrollment period to make any changes, which could leave you uninsured or improperly covered in the meantime.