Regardless of the underlying reason to move away, moving to a different state can be a lot of hassle. From finding a new place to live and picking the best interstate movers to packing up your things and surviving Moving day, an out-of-state move is hard work.
With so many tasks to complete and things to think about when moving from one state to another, it’s fairly easy to fail to take care of an important job. And here’s the perfect example of a task you can easily forget about after a chaotic move is over: to fail to change your health insurance when moving out of state.
You must ensure that you will be adequately covered to get the medical care you might need no matter which state you have moved to. It’s a major big risk to put off getting new health coverage in the destination state – what if you get sick or injured during a period in which you are not covered? You could end up paying huge medical bills out-of-pocket and that’s not what you would want to ever happen.
Read on to learn how to change health insurance when moving out of state.
Do you have to change health insurance after moving to a different state?
In the majority of cases, when you move to another state, you can’t keep the health insurance plan from your old state. What this means is that in order to stay covered, you have to sign up for a new health insurance plan when you’re starting work at a new company, looking for a new job, working part-time, or when you’re self-employed. If you plan to stay home but you’re neither retired nor on disability, then you also need to get new health coverage after moving to a new state.
The only scenario when you won’t need to change your health insurance plan after moving to a new state is when you’re staying with the same employer. So, if you work for a large company and you are sent to one of their business locations in another state, then you’re likely to find out that your health coverage remains the same even after the out-of-state move.
So, the short answer is YES – you have to get a new health insurance plan when you move from one state to another unless your move is work-related (you are sent there by the company you work for). The reason for this is that the individual market health coverage is regulated and marketed at the state level.
When can you change your health insurance when moving to a new state?
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, health insurance is guaranteed in every U.S. state for all applicants during open enrollment and special enrollment periods that are triggered by qualifying events. The good news for you is that moving to a new state is regarded as a qualifying event but on one condition – you need to have had health insurance in your previous state. This basically means that you cannot move to a new state with the intention of taking advantage of a special enrollment period unless you were properly insured in your old state prior to the move.
So, provided that you had health insurance before the house move, you will get a 60-day enrollment period after the move is complete to find a new health plan. Well, you may think that 60 days is plenty of time to take care of this must-do post-move task, but it can be a bit tricky.
- First of all, the earliest effective date you will be eligible for health coverage will be the first day of the following month. Basically, this means that you have to enroll for new health insurance by the 15th of the current month to get coverage effective the first of the next month.
- And secondly, you’re likely to get a gap in which you won’t be covered because once the move is complete, your old health insurance plan won’t be effective in the new state and the new coverage won’t be in effect either. Whether you have a gap or not, and how big that gap is, will depend on the date you move to the new state and how far you will be into the 60-day enrollment period when you pick new health coverage in the new state.
See also: How to transfer medical records when moving
Will you need short-term health insurance after moving to a different state?
As mentioned above, you may end up with a gap in health coverage when moving from one state to another, and that’s a really bad idea. Bear in mind that once you leave your old state, your current health insurance policy may only cover emergencies, and that’s not good enough.
Check if you’re about to have a gap in coverage and if you do, then you should seriously consider getting a short-term health insurance plan that’s sole purpose is to cover you until your new health insurance policy takes effect in the new state. That’s what short-term plans are designed to do – to cover short gaps in health insurance coverage, usually for a few weeks. The thing is that you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow so you should not risk being without adequate health insurance coverage even for a short period of time.
The best thing about a short-term health insurance plan is that it becomes effective the day after you apply for it so that you won’t have any high-risk gap in coverage. Keep in mind that such short-term plans do not usually cover any pre-existing conditions and are not offered on the federal marketplace or on state exchanges. Basically, you will have to purchase a short-term health insurance plan through a private company.
Read also: How to find a new doctor when moving
How to change your health insurance after moving to another state
Remember that it’s important to have adequate medical insurance coverage at all times. This way, you’ll have the peace of mind that if anything bad happens – from injuring your back during the house-moving process to a sudden illness that necessitates a hospital stay – you will be properly insured and won’t need to drain your savings in order to get the medical care that you need at the moment.
To get a new health insurance plan after moving to a different state, you will need to start a new Marketplace application in the new state. Health insurance marketplaces (aka health insurance exchanges) are designed to help you easily compare coverage details and costs among various qualified health plans. Such health insurance policies must meet standards that are established and enforced by the federal government and state governments.
The steps to start a new Marketplace application and enroll in a new health insurance plan in the new state will depend on whether the new state uses HealthCare.gov or its own website to offer new health coverage.
Here’s how to start a new Marketplace application using the HealthCare.gov website:
- Step 1. Visit HealthCare.gov and log in into your personal account;
- Step 2. Select the year for which you wish to get health coverage and the state you just moved to. If you don’t see the new state, then it means that that state is running its own Marketplace. Here you to see the list of states that run their own health insurance marketplaces.
- Step 3. Click on the Apply or Renew buttons to start a new Marketplace application.
- Step 4. Finish your application and you’ll see health insurance plans and prices that are available to you. Take your pick to complete the enrollment in your new state.
Note: While you’re at HealthCare.gov, don’t forget to update your personal profile with the new address. Go to My Profile section and edit the Address field.
Must-read: 5 tips for moving out of state for the first time
