New, lower costs on Marketplace coverage

You may be able to get more savings and lower costs on Marketplace health insurance coverage due to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Under the new law:

More people than ever before qualify for help paying for health coverage, even those who weren’t eligible in the past.
Most people currently enrolled in a Marketplace plan may qualify for more tax credits.
Health insurance premiums after these new savings will go down.

How to find out if you qualify for Marketplace savings

When you apply for Marketplace coverage, you’ll find out if you qualify for a premium tax credit that lowers your monthly premium.

The amount of your premium tax credit depends on the estimated household income for 2022 that you put on your Marketplace application.

Find out if your estimated 2022 income is in the range to qualify for a premium tax credit.

Enroll or change plans if you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period to get 2021 coverage

You can enroll in or change to a different plan for the rest of 2021, only if you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period due to a life event — like changing jobs, moving, getting married, or having a baby. You usually have 60 days from the life event to enroll in a new plan. If you have a qualifying life event, we strongly recommend you start or update an application to get coverage that starts sooner than January 1.

Already know you qualify? Create an account to apply and enroll for the first time, or log in to update an existing application.
Before you apply, you can preview 2021 plans and prices based on your income.
If you don't qualify for a Special Enrollment Period, you can enroll in 2022 coverage during Open Enrollment from Monday, November 1, 2021–Saturday, January 15, 2022. Enroll by December 15, 2021 for coverage that starts January 1, 2022.

Preview 2022 health insurance plans & prices.

If you got unemployment compensation in 2021

Starting July 1, 2021, you may have been eligible for more savings and lower costs on 2021 Marketplace coverage if you or someone in your household got unemployment compensation for at least one week in 2021.

Because this one-time extra savings is no longer available for 2022 Marketplace coverage, you may get less financial help.

Learn more about what to include as income and how to estimate your income if you’re unemployed.

If you were eligible for COBRA premium assistance

If you qualified for COBRA continuation coverage because you or a household member had a reduction in work hours or involuntarily lost a job, you may have qualified for help paying for your COBRA premiums, even if you don’t have COBRA right now. If you qualified, you would have gotten a written notice from your former employer or insurance company and had access to COBRA without having to pay premiums. Learn more about COBRA premium assistance.

This help ended on September 30, and so you can enroll in a Marketplace plan with a Special Enrollment Period. To enroll, you can report a September 30 "loss of coverage" on your application. You can’t qualify for a premium tax credit while you’re enrolled in COBRA, so if you want to change to Marketplace coverage, make sure that your COBRA coverage ends on the last day before your Marketplace coverage starts. If you decide to keep COBRA without premium assistance, you can qualify for a Special Enrollment Period based on the end date of your COBRA coverage, which is usually 18 to 36 months after it started.

Learn more about COBRA premium assistance.

If your state doesn’t use HealthCare.gov

Visit your State Marketplace website or contact their Call Center for more information about when these additional savings will be available through your Marketplace.