How Soon Does Health Insurance Start? 
Health insurance can start in one of three ways : 1 . If it is short term health insurance , the policy can start as quickly as the next day after you submit the application electronically or have it post marked by most short term insurance carriers . It many cases you can select the effective date of coverage if you do not want it to start the very next day . 2 . The new Affordable Care Act plans aka Obamacare plans can start the first of the next month , if you apply by the 15th of the preceding month ... otherwise if you submit after the 15th of the month , it will start the first of the month of the month following the next month ... in other words if you submit the application on July 17th , the policy will start September 1 . 3 . If it is group or employer based health insurance you should check with the HR department , because dates can vary . Hop that helps . Tracy McManamon onesourcebenefits.com 