How to get health insurance without a job

Your options for health insurance without a job

Without a job you have five main routes to coverage, and which one fits depends on your income, your age and how recently you lost employer coverage. The table puts them side by side.

Medicaid enrollment is open all year.^[5] The Marketplace special enrollment period, COBRA rules and the under-26 rule are explained below.

Medicaid: free or low-cost coverage if your income dropped

If your income is now low, Medicaid is usually the cheapest option. In the 41 states (including DC) that have expanded Medicaid, adults qualify with income up to 138% of the federal poverty level; 10 states have not expanded.^[4] A drop in income after a job loss can make you eligible, and you can apply any time of year.^[5]

Guidelines: $15,960 for one person plus $5,680 for each additional person; higher in Alaska and Hawaii.^[15] States apply their own rules and monthly figures, so treat the 138% column as a guide and apply to find out.

Marketplace plans and the 60-day special enrollment period

If you lose job-based coverage, you have 60 days to enroll in a Marketplace plan through a special enrollment period, even outside open enrollment.^[1] When COBRA coverage runs out you get another 60-day window, but dropping COBRA voluntarily outside open enrollment does not qualify.^[2] Open enrollment for 2027 runs November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027; enroll by December 15 for coverage starting January 1.^[3]

Premium tax credits lower the monthly premium for households with income from 100% to 400% of the poverty line.^[6] The extra credits that had removed the 400% cap expired on January 1, 2026,^[8] so for 2027 people above 400% get no credit, and benchmark silver premiums are up 13% on average.^[9] Below 400%, the most you are expected to pay for the benchmark plan ranges from 2.15% of income (under 133% of poverty) to 10.22% (300–400%).^[10] Savings for 2027 plans are figured with the previous year's poverty guidelines.^[7]

If the benchmark silver plan in your area costs more than that, the tax credit covers the difference; a cheaper plan costs you less, a more expensive one more. The calculator above shows where your income falls; at $30,000 a single person is at 188% of the guideline.

COBRA: keeping your old plan

COBRA lets you keep your former employer's group plan, usually for 18 months after a job loss or a cut in hours, but you pay up to 102% of the full premium, including the part your employer used to pay.^[11] You have at least 60 days to elect it.^[12] COBRA makes sense mainly when you are mid-treatment and want to keep the same doctors and deductible, or when your income is above the Marketplace credit range and your old plan is cheaper than an unsubsidized Marketplace plan. Compare both before the 60-day windows close.

Under 26: staying on a parent's plan

You can stay on a parent's job-based plan until you turn 26, even if you are married, not their dependent, live elsewhere or could get your own job coverage; on a parent's Marketplace plan, coverage usually lasts through December 31 of the year you turn 26.^[13]

Short-term plans and other stopgaps

Short-term health plans are not Marketplace plans; they usually cost less because they can cover much less, so read what is excluded before you buy. A 2024 federal rule limited them to three months, four with renewals, but since August 2025 federal agencies have said they will not prioritize enforcing that limit, and state law still applies.^[14] Expanded access to catastrophic plans is also on hold for 2027.^[9]

1. Uninsured for now? Federally funded health centers charge on a sliding scale and cannot turn you away for inability to pay.^[16][17] See sliding scale clinics and sliding scale dentists.
2. Before a planned test or visit, ask for a written good faith estimate, which uninsured patients are entitled to.
3. If a bill has already arrived, use the steps in how to negotiate medical bills.
4. For minor problems, compare urgent care costs with the ER before you go.