If you bought a health plan outside the Marketplace on or before March 23, 2010 and are still covered by it, you have a "grandfathered" plan. You may not have some rights and protections other plans offer under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
FYI: Changes and cancelations to Marketplace plans are handled differently. Learn about your options.
When your grandfathered plan year ends, you’ll get a notice from your insurance company.
You have 3 options:
You have 3 options:
Buy a plan through the Marketplace: Losing health coverage qualifies you for a Special Enrollment Period, so you can enroll even outside the yearly Open Enrollment Period. Learn how. All Marketplace plans include the ACA rights and protections.
Buy a plan outside the Marketplace: This may be a good option if you don’t qualify for savings based on your income. But if you do qualify to save, you can get the savings only if you enroll through the Marketplace. Most plans outside the Marketplace include the rights and protections.
If your grandfathered plan is canceled and you think you can’t afford a Marketplace plan, you can apply for an affordability exemption for purposes of obtaining catastrophic coverage.
How to get a Catastrophic insurance plan:
If your grandfathered plan ends outside Open Enrollment, you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period. This lets you enroll any time of year, even outside Open Enrollment.
To avoid a gap in coverage, sign up for a new plan by the 15th of the last month of your current plan’s coverage. Coverage can begin the first day of the next month.
No. You can get coverage outside the Marketplace. But the rules and deadlines are slightly different.