What Is A Qualifying Event For Health Insurance Enrollment? 
In the context of health insurance , qualifying events are certain life events that meet criteria established by the IRS and now , also Health and Human Services , that would allow an individual to enroll in individual health insurance outside of the normal annual open enrollment period established under the Affordable Care Act -LRB- ObamaCare -RRB- . Common examples of qualifying events are ; 1 -RRB- Loss of health insurance coverage through your employer 2 -RRB- Expiration of your health insurance coverage through a former employer under the Federal COBRA regulations or state continuation of coverage provisions 3 -RRB- Loss of coverage under a government sponsored plan , including Medicaid or CHIP 4 -RRB- Loss of Minimum Essential Coverage -LRB- e.g. - state high risk pool , student health plan -RRB- 5 -RRB- Birth or adoption of a child or establishing foster care or legal guardianship of a child 6 -RRB- Marriage 7 -RRB- No longer an eligible dependent -LRB- e.g. - child turning age 26 -RRB- 8 -RRB- Divorce from a policyholder 9 -RRB- Termination of a pre-Affordable Care Act individual plan during 2014 10 -RRB- Moving to a new area that offers different plan options or outside of an HMO service area 11 -RRB- Employer bankruptcy resulting in loss of coverage for retirees 12 -RRB- Return from active military service 13 -RRB- Release from incarceration 14 -RRB- Unintentional error or enrollment/disenrollment in a health insurance marketplace plan is unintentional or erroneous 15 -RRB- Newly eligible/ineligible for exchange subsidies or premium tax credit or cost-sharing reductions 16 -RRB- A material violation committed by the health plan You should operate under the assumption that you have 60-days after such a `` Qualifying Life Event '' to complete your application for new health insurance coverage . 