The gist

• If you want to sign up for new health insurance or make changes to an existing plan, typically, the only time of the year when anyone can do so is during Open Enrollment Period (OEP). 

• If you miss your OEP, you may qualify for what’s known as a Special Enrollment Period (SEP). To be eligible for a SEP, you must first experience a qualifying life event.

• Qualifying life events are major life events like getting married, divorced, having or adopting a child, moving, losing your job, and more. 

• Suppose you have a qualifying life event, like getting married. In that case, you typically have 60 days to enroll in new health insurance or make changes to your existing plan, so make sure you have documentation ready (like a birth or death certificate, marriage license, or other legal paperwork).

In this article

• How do I become eligible for a Special Enrollment Period?

• What is a qualifying life event?

• Is getting married a qualifying life event?

In short

Did you miss your Open Enrollment Period? Did you just get married, and now you’re looking to add your spouse to your health insurance? Did we just read your mind? Don’t stress — you may be eligible for what’s known as a Special Enrollment Period — but only if you’ve had what’s known as a qualifying life event. Here’s our advice: Take a deep breath, center yourself, drink some water, and start scrolling this article because we’re about to tell you (basically) everything you need to know about Special Enrollment Periods and qualifying life events. 

We’ll go deep on this topic, but for the impatient folks: Yes! Getting married is a qualifying event — meaning if you get married, you’re eligible for a Special Enrollment Period. For the rest of you, keep reading to learn about SEPs, QLEs, and how to enroll in a new health insurance plan.

How do I become eligible for a Special Enrollment Period?

If you need to sign up for new health insurance or make changes to an existing plan outside of the OEP, you must first experience a qualifying life event. We’ll go over more specifics in the next section, but qualifying life events are major experiences — like a birth, a death, or a marriage in the household (to name a few) — that might necessitate changes to your health coverage.

Your SEP typically ends 60 days after your qualifying life event occurs (not 60 days from when you request the SEP), so you’ll want to make sure you have your documents ready as soon as you have them. 

What is a qualifying life event?

We’ve made it to the fun part, the list. If you’re unsure if your life event qualifies, send your questions to our team here, and we’ll walk you through the details. 

Here are some of the most common qualifying life events:

• Losing health care coverage, for instance:

• Turning 26 and/or being removed from your parent’s insurance

• Losing your employer-provided coverage due to job loss or weekly hour reduction

• If a change in your income makes you ineligible for Medicaid, CHIP, or Medicare

• Changes to the size of your household or family, for instance:

• Getting married

• Getting divorced

• Having or adopting a child

• Becoming a caretaker for a person who lives in your home and is elderly or disabled 

• When there is a death in the family 

• Changes in your place of residence, for instance:

• Moving to a new ZIP code or county 

• If you are a student moving to or returning from school

• If you are a seasonal worker who moves for employment

• Leaving a shelter or other transitional housing

• Other qualifying events include:

  • Leaving jail or prison

  • Becoming a U.S. citizen

  • Gaining membership or status in certain Native American or indigenous tribes that are recognized under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

  • If you’re a rideshare or delivery driver in California, completing your first drive

  • If you’re a rideshare or delivery driver in California, driving an average of 15+ hours per week during a calendar quarter

Remember, you only have 60 days from when your qualifying life event occurs to sign up for new coverage or make changes to your existing health insurance. To prove your qualifying event, you’ll need to provide proper documentation (like a birth/death certificate, employment termination letter, or marriage license), so make sure you’re saving all your paperwork!  

Is getting married a qualifying life event?

Yes! Getting married is a qualifying life event. Whether you’re looking to add your spouse to your health insurance or vice versa, getting married makes both of you eligible for a Special Eligibility Period that will allow you to make certain changes to your plan. 

As we’ve mentioned above, you have 60 days to make these changes, so don’t delay! Which brings us to the task at hand: Once the confetti and the bouquets have been thrown, the cake has been cut, and your Aunt Sally really laid it down to the DJ’s modern pop mix, it’s time to get down to business — health insurance business, that is.

As soon as you get your marriage certificate or license, you can start shopping. You might be looking to add your spouse to your health insurance or they might be looking to modify their plan to cover you. You and your spouse might even take this SEP as an opportunity to shop for entirely new health insurance altogether!  But remember — your 60-day SEP starts on the day you got married, not the day you applied.