Access to an SEP due to divorce, death, or legal separation without an associated loss of coverage – is not available in most states. This SEP is not available in states that use HealthCare.gov[efn_note]“Federally-facilitated Exchange (FFE) Enrollment Manual” (page 68) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. July 12, 2023[/efn_note] (32 states as of 2024), and it’s only available in about half of the states that have state-run exchanges (details below). Although this SEP was originally slated to be available nationwide, HHS ultimately decided not to offer it on HealthCare.gov, and to make it optional in states with state-run exchanges, giving the decision to the exchanges or applicable state regulatory agency.[efn_note]“Update: Special Enrollment Periods Available to Consumers” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. June 23, 2017[/efn_note] Originally, the plan was that loss of a dependent – or loss of dependent status – due to death, divorce, legal separation, or child support order was to become a qualifying event effective in January 2017 for people who were already enrolled in an exchange plan. But in May 2016, HHS reversed its position on this issue, stating that an SEP based on loss of dependent status or loss of a dependent even without an impact on coverage would remain optional for the exchanges, and exchanges were no longer required to offer this SEP starting in 2017. So in most states, divorce, death, or legal separation doesn’t trigger an SEP unless there’s an associated loss of coverage.