Turning 26? Here Is How to Keep Health Insurance in Florida

What the age 26 rule says

Under federal rules, a health plan that offers coverage for children must keep an adult child on until age 26. That holds whether you are married, in school, living at home or working. It does not hold after 26. Your plan decides the exact end date, which may be your birthday, the end of that month or the end of that year.

Florida adds an option for some plans. Certain insured employer-sponsored plans must offer the employer a choice to keep an unmarried adult child, who has no children of their own, on until about age thirty. The employer decides whether to choose it, and it does not reach every plan. Our blog post on adult children explains the conditions, and a parent can ask their benefits office.

Ask for your end date in writing

Do not guess. Ask your parent to contact their employer's benefits office or the insurance company and ask when your coverage ends. Ask them to put it in an email or letter. A date in writing also helps later, because you may need proof that you lost coverage.

Ask about prescriptions too. If you take a medicine every month, find out whether you can refill it before the date.

Your windows to enroll

Aging off a parent's plan counts as losing coverage. On HealthCare.gov, which Florida uses, you can generally apply up to sixty days before or after the date, and in many cases a plan chosen before the date can begin when your old one ends. If your own job offers a plan, losing your parent's coverage usually lets you join it outside the yearly window, but that window is often short, around thirty days. Ask HR now.

We do not sell Marketplace plans. If you expect a low income, look at HealthCare.gov first, because help with monthly costs depends on your household income.

Thinking about a private plan

A private plan can be worth a look at your age. You can apply any time of year, so you are not stuck waiting for a yearly window. The plans we offer are private plans, not ACA Marketplace plans, and they have exclusions and limitations. An advisor explains the details.

Try to apply before your birthday. The date a private plan begins varies, and a plan generally does not pay for care you receive before it starts. Our plans are for people under 65.

If you have moved away from home

Plenty of young adults live in a different city than their parents, or in a different state. A plan's network may be built around where your parents live. Ask where the network reaches and where you would go for urgent care. Some plans have networks that also work outside Florida, and others do not.