A qualifying life event can open a Special Enrollment Period to get or change Health Insurance Marketplace (ACA) coverage outside Open Enrollment. Here's exactly what applies when a death in the household ends your coverage.
Quick answer: If someone on your plan dies and that causes you to lose your health coverage, you get a Special Enrollment Period. You have 60 days from the date you lose the coverage to enroll in a Marketplace plan.
Enroll in your own Marketplace plan and apply for premium tax credits based on your updated household income and size. A change in household from a death can change the amount of premium help you qualify for.
Coverage generally starts the first day of the month after you pick a plan. After enrolling you may have 30 days to send documents confirming the loss of coverage.
People who lose their health coverage because a member of their household or the primary policyholder passed away. If the death does not end your own coverage, this particular SEP does not apply — but other life changes may.
The official HealthCare.gov screener walks through your situation in a few questions and tells you if a Special Enrollment Period is open — free, no obligation.
Check on HealthCare.gov →If your spouse's death causes you to lose your health coverage — for instance, a plan that was in their name — you have a 60-day Special Enrollment Period from the date the coverage ends to enroll in a Marketplace plan.
The Marketplace may ask for proof of the coverage loss within 30 days of picking a plan, such as a letter ending the prior plan. Follow the specific document request your Marketplace shows after you enroll.
Special Enrollment Periods are short and event-driven — miss a client's 60-day window and they wait until Open Enrollment. A dated SEP log is the difference between a written app and a lost lead. This page is free to share. The ACA Health Agent Tracker ($29, Excel + Google Sheets) gives you a ready-made book of business to log every member's qualifying event, deadline, and PMPM; the Agency-in-a-Box bundles it with the full CRM and compliance logs.
See the ACA Health Agent Tracker on Etsy →These windows are based on U.S. government Health Insurance Marketplace rules: