Does marrying my common law wife entitle me to a special enrollment period where I can change my coverage?
UPDATED: Jul 31, 2018
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Asked July 31, 2018
1 Answer
The answer to your question is yes. One of the great things about healthcare coverage is it has special enrollment periods which are allowed due to qualifying changes in one's lives. The special enrollment period generally lasts 60 days before or after the qualifying event took place.
Categories include:
- Loss of health coverage due to different reasons eg losing job-based coverage.
- Changes in the household eg having a baby.
- Changes in residence eg moving to a new home in new zip or county
- Other qualifying changes eg leaving incarceration
Getting married comes under 'Changes in the household' which allows you to enroll outside the normal enrollment periods. You can apply if you got married within the last 60 days. You can pick a policy by the last day of the month, and your coverage will begin the first day of the next month. You do have to provide adequate documentation which you would have to prove you did get married within the last 60 days or some other form of proof of a common-law marriage.
A very good source for information about this is the link below.
https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/qualifying-life-event/
Answered August 1, 2018 by zenguy