When life gets challenging, it’s important to remember that nothing is more important than your health. If you’ve been recently furloughed or laid off, the realization that your employer-supported health insurance benefits are now gone may feel like salt in an already painful wound.

 

Take heart, though. You have important consumer protections on your side, brought to you by the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, which is still in effect for now. With a little know-how and research, you can find a health plan to cover you and your family.

 

Before 2014, you could buy an individual health plan at any time of the year. But now, except for special circumstances, you can purchase individual healthcare options only during the period known as open enrollment.

 

The Affordable Care Act

According to Healthcare.gov, you can buy a health plan outside the open enrollment period if you have a “qualifying life event,” such as moving outside your insurer’s coverage area, getting married, or getting laid off. You can also buy coverage outside the open enrollment period if you had a special situation that prevented you from enrolling earlier.

 

Healthcare.gov goes on to say “If you’re unemployed you may be able to get an affordable health insurance plan through the Marketplace, with savings based on your income and household size. You may also qualify for free or low-cost coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Your household size and income, not your employment status, determine what health coverage you’re eligible for and how much help you’ll get paying for coverage.”

 

Qualifying for Medicaid 

 

While Medicaid is generally reserved for Americans 65 years of age or older, there are circumstances where expanded Medicaid is available in certain states. According to Healthinsurance.com, “First, in states that have expanded Medicaid, you will qualify for Medicaid if you earn up to 138 percent of the FPL. For a single individual in 2018, the upper-income limit for Medicaid eligibility is $16,753, and for a family of four, the upper-income limit is $34,638 (here’s the federal website that shows the current year FPL for various family sizes).

In states that have not expanded Medicaid, eligibility for Medicaid has remained unchanged as a result of the ACA, and in most cases, able-bodied adults without dependent children are not eligible for Medicaid regardless of how low their income is.”

Source: https://www.healthinsurance.org/faqs/my-eligibility-for-medicaid-depends-on-whether-im-133-percent-of-the-federal-poverty-level-can-you-spell-out-what-that-means-in-dollars/