In Graduate School How Long Can I Stay On My Parents Insurance? 
Under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act -LRB- ObamaCare -RRB- a dependent child can be covered on their parent 's health insurance policy until they turn age 26 . After you blow out the candles on your birthday cake when you turn 26 you have 60-days to obtain your own health insurance coverage . If you fail to do so within that 60-day period then you will be unable to enroll in ObamaCare compliant major medical insurance until the next open enrollment period for an effective date of the first of the year . In 2014 the open enrollment period begins on November 15th and the earliest date your coverage could go into effect would be on January 1 , 2015 . If you have missed your 60-day enrollment window then you could possibly take out a Short Term Major Medical policy to cover you until you can enroll in ObamaCare compliant coverage . Please be aware that Short Term Major Medical policies do not cover pre-existing conditions , some can decline you for coverage entirely , and they do not meet the individual mandate requirements of ObamaCare for the purposes of avoiding the individual mandate tax penalty . 