What Constitutes A Qualifying Event For Health Insurance? 
You can only apply for health insurance outside of the annual enrollment period if you qualify for a special enrollment period -LRB- SEP -RRB- . This goes for health plans both on and off the health insurance exchanges . To qualify for a special enrollment period , you must have a `` life-changing event . `` Qualifying events include : 1 -RRB- Getting married 2 -RRB- Having a child 3 -RRB- Adopting a child 4 -RRB- Fostering a child 5 -RRB- Moving out of your current coverage 's service area 6 -RRB- Losing your existing health insurance under certain conditions including : 7 -RRB- Loss of group coverage through your employer 8 -RRB- Your COBRA coverage expired 9 -RRB- You get divorced 10 -RRB- You come off your parent 's group coverage 11 -RRB- Your plan was terminated by the carrier 12 -RRB- You lose your Medicaid eligibility , CHIP eligibility , or similar situation 13 -RRB- Becoming a U.S. citizen 14 -RRB- Leaving incarceration 15 -RRB- Becoming a member of an indian tribe : those in a federally recognized tribe can apply for new coverage/make changes to their existing coverage once a month throughout the year Please note , voluntarily terminating your existing coverage or your coverage was terminated by the carrier because you did n't pay your premiums are NOT considered qualifying events for a special enrollment period . Please let me know if I can be of further Assistance . Thanks very much . 