If you don’t enroll in an ACA-compliant health insurance plan by the end of open enrollment (January 15, 2023 in most states), your buying options will be limited until the next open enrollment starts in the fall of 2023. Depending on the circumstances, there are various options for obtaining coverage, even after open enrollment ends: Medicaid enrollment is year-round Medicaid and CHIP enrollment are available year-round for those who qualify. If your income drops to a Medicaid-eligible level later in the year, you’ll be able to enroll at that point. Similarly, if you’re on Medicaid and your income increases to a level that makes you ineligible for Medicaid, you’ll have an opportunity to switch to a private plan at that point, with the loss of your Medicaid plan serving as the qualifying event that triggers a special enrollment period. (Note that until the end of the COVID public health emergency, states are not disenrolling people from Medicaid unless the enrollee requests it. The public health emergency is expected to continue until at least early 2023.) Monthly enrollment opportunity if your household income doesn’t exceed 150% of the poverty level In September 2021, the Biden administration finalized a new monthly enrollment opportunity for people who are subsidy-eligible and whose household income doesn’t exceed 150% of the federal poverty level. This enrollment opportunity will remain in place for as long as the American Rescue Plan’s subsidy structure (which grants premium-free benchmark plans to people at this income level) remains in place. That’s at least through the end of 2025, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which was enacted in August 2022. Native Americans can enroll year-round Native Americans can enroll in plans through the marketplace year-round. Here’s more about special provisions in the ACA that apply to Native Americans. Special enrollment period if you have a qualifying event If you have a qualifying event during the year, you’ll have access to a special enrollment period (SEP). Qualifying events include marriage (assuming at least one spouse already had coverage prior to the marriage), the birth or adoption of a child, loss of other minimum essential coverage, or a permanent move to a new geographical area where the available health plans are different from what was available in your prior location (assuming you already had coverage prior to your move). Here’s a full guide to all of the qualifying events that trigger special enrollment periods in the individual market, including details about the specific rules that apply to each of them. Short-term health insurance Under general federal rules, short-term health insurance plans can have initial terms of up to 364 days and a total duration of up to 36 months, including renewals. But the majority of the states have more restrictive limits on the availability of short-term plans, and those state limits supersede the federal rules. You can visit our short-term health insurance page to check your state’s guidelines.