How Soon Does Health Insurance Start? 
The answer to your question depends upon the context of where you are getting your health insurance and the type of health insurance you are getting . If your health insurance is being provided by your employer the answer will vary depending upon that company 's personnel policies and can even very for classes of employees -LRB- e.g. - hourly versus salaried -RRB- . As such your coverage could effective date could range from your date of hire to some date after you have completed a probationary/waiting period with that employer . The business owner , their Human Resources person or their insurance broker should be able to provide you with this group specific information . In 2014 and after , the Affordable Care Act -LRB- ACA -RRB- requires that an employer can not impose a waiting period of more than 90 calendar days from the date of hire for a new hire to be enrolled or to waive participation in the company 's group health plan . For practical purposes many employers are moving to a personnel policy of a new hire being covered on the first of the month following 60-days after being hired . Individual major medical insurance will go into effect on a first of the month basis . Though the first of what month will depend upon when you apply for coverage . The ACA require that enrollments received on or before the 15th of the month become effective the first of the next month . Applications received after the 15th of the month will become effective the first day of the following month . Bear in mind that as of April 1 , 2014 you are essentially unable to enroll in individual major medical insurance for the rest of 2014 unless you experience a change of life status event -LRB- marriage , divorce , loss of other coverage are common examples -RRB- . Short Term Major Medical insurance is not subject to the ACA restrictions and applicants have much greater flexibility in choosing the effective date of their coverage which can range from starting at midnight of the day they apply to some other date the applicant indicates they want their coverage to go into effect . Marlin McKelvy Consumer Directed Benefit Solutions www.cdbsagency.com 