Your Main Options
Agency Health Insurance
Some provide excellent day-one coverage; others have waiting periods and high premiums. Agency insurance usually reduces take-home pay since costs are built into your package. Ask to see numbers with and without.
ACA Marketplace Plans
Healthcare.gov plans are portable — keep the same plan regardless of agency. Can't deny pre-existing conditions. Open enrollment November–January; losing employer coverage triggers special enrollment.
Short-Term Health Insurance
Popular for bridging gaps. Up to 12 months, renewable. Premiums vary widely by age, state and plan, so quote it for your own situation rather than trusting a range. Real coverage for doctor visits, emergencies, hospitalizations. Pre-existing conditions usually excluded, but practical for healthy travelers needing affordable bridge coverage.
Spouse or Partner's Plan
Often the simplest and most cost-effective option if available.
Enrollment windows and COBRA, in the government's words
Between contracts, the rules that decide whether you can buy or keep coverage are federal ones. Here they are as HealthCare.gov and the U.S. Department of Labor state them:
- Losing job-based coverage: “For this Special Enrollment Period, you need to apply for Marketplace coverage within 60 days of losing your job-based coverage. Your coverage can start the first day of the month after you lose your job-based coverage.” (HealthCare.gov, If you lose job-based health insurance, read 2026-10-01)
- Special Enrollment Period: “You may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period if you or anyone in your household lost qualifying health coverage in the past 60 days OR expects to lose coverage in the next 60 days .” (HealthCare.gov, Special Enrollment Period, read 2026-10-01)
- Open Enrollment: “November 1 - January 15 each year” (HealthCare.gov, Special Enrollment Period, read 2026-10-01)
- COBRA: “COBRA coverage lets you pay to stay on your job-based health insurance for a limited time after your job ends (usually 18 months). You usually pay the full premium yourself, plus a small administrative fee.” (HealthCare.gov, If you lose job-based health insurance, read 2026-10-01)
- Who must offer COBRA: “COBRA generally requires that group health plans sponsored by employers with 20 or more employees in the prior year offer employees and their families the opportunity for a temporary extension of health coverage” (U.S. Department of Labor, Continuation of Health Coverage (COBRA), read 2026-10-01)
- Ending COBRA early: “If you choose to end COBRA coverage early, you’ll have to wait until next Open Enrollment to get Marketplace coverage” (HealthCare.gov, COBRA coverage when you're unemployed, read 2026-10-01)
Never go uninsured. Short-term insurance is usually cheaper than COBRA — COBRA charges you the full group premium plus a 2% administrative fee, so it costs what your employer was paying, not what you were — for covering gaps between contracts. Can be activated within days.