What do I do if my health insurance got cancelled?

Did you recently lose your insurance plan and are unsure what to do next? If so, you may be able to get covered again depending on the reason you lost your coverage.

If you lost your health insurance because you were terminated from employment or you have resigned from a position, you have 60 days from the last date you had insurance to enroll in a new plan. You will need a letter from your employer on company letterhead stating the last date you had insurance and reason for loss of coverage, or a notice from your insurance carrier stating when you lost your insurance. This document is important because you will need to submit it along with your new application to prove you qualify for coverage outside of “open enrollment.”

If you lost your health insurance because you missed making a payment, you may need to reach out to your health insurance carrier to ask them if you can get reinstated. Usually if it has been less than 30 days since you missed your payment, they will let you make your payment you missed to reinstate your plan without a lapse in coverage. Unfortunately this is not always the case and if it has been more than 30 days since you didn’t pay your premium, you may not be able to get your coverage back. By not making a payment, health insurance companies view this as a voluntary action (regardless of your reason for not making the payment), so they may not allow you to go back and make up for it. However, there are some cases where you can submit an appeal and ask for reinstatement of your plan. You will need to explain your reasons and provide a compelling story for them to consider your argument and take action. Every insurance carrier has their own forms to submit appeals so you will need to reach out to them directly and ask for the form or search their website for it.

If your health insurance is being cancelled because you are turning 26 years old and are no longer able to be covered on your parents’ policy, this serves as a “qualifying life event,” which means you have 60 days from the last date you are covered on your parents’ plan to enroll in a new plan. Your health insurance company should be sending you a letter stating the last date you will have insurance and the reason for cancellation so that you can use that to sign up for a new plan.

These are some common reasons for why your health insurance may get canceled, but there are other varying scenarios that could cause your plan to cancel as well. If you find yourself in a situation where your health insurance plan gets canceled, feel free to give us a call and ask us if there is any way to get covered again. Considering the specific guidelines and deadlines when it comes to these types of situations, you would benefit from speaking with an agent to help you figure something like this out. We have dealt with many different types of scenarios and will most likely have an answer for you as soon as you tell us what’s going on.