How to Get Health Insurance If You Are Unemployed

On this page

• Your options at a glance
• Marketplace plans: the main option for most people
• Medicaid if your income drops
• COBRA: keep your old plan, at full price
• Join a spouse’s or parent’s plan
• Medicare if you’re 65 or older
• Stopgap options to be careful with
• Frequently asked questions

Your options at a glance

Option	Best for	Watch out for
Marketplace plan	Most people who lost job-based coverage	Enroll within 60 days and estimate income carefully
Medicaid	Low current monthly income	Adult eligibility depends on your state
COBRA	Keeping the same doctors or a nearly met deductible	You pay the full premium plus up to 2%
Spouse’s employer plan	Households where one partner still has benefits	Usually must enroll within 30 days
Parent’s plan	Anyone under 26	Doctors may be out of network away from home
Short-term plan	Brief gaps when nothing else fits	Can exclude pre-existing conditions

Marketplace plans: the main option for most people

You don’t need a job to buy coverage on HealthCare.gov or your state’s marketplace. Losing job-based coverage opens a special enrollment period: you have 60 days after the coverage ends to pick a plan, and you can apply up to 60 days before it ends so there’s no gap. Outside that window and the yearly open enrollment period, you usually can’t sign up.

Every marketplace plan covers pre-existing conditions and essential benefits like hospital care, prescriptions and mental health care. The premium tax credit is based on what you expect to earn for the whole calendar year, including wages before the layoff, severance and unemployment benefits. If losing your job lowers your annual income, your credit may be bigger than you expect. For 2026 coverage, credits go to households between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level, which is $15,650 to $62,600 for one person. For 2027 coverage, it’s $15,960 to $63,840.

You can also buy an ACA plan straight from an insurer (see how to buy health insurance outside the ACA exchanges), but premium tax credits are only available through the marketplace.

To keep premiums down, many people choose a bronze plan with a higher deductible. That works if you have savings to cover the deductible, and choosing between a high and low deductible walks through the trade-off. Compare a few plans side by side, too. Here’s how many insurers to look at before you decide, and more ideas in the cheapest ways to get health insurance.

Medicaid if your income drops

Medicaid is free or very low-cost coverage run by each state. Unlike marketplace subsidies, Medicaid eligibility is based on your current monthly income, so you can qualify the month your paycheck stops. In the 41 states (including DC) that expanded Medicaid, adults generally qualify with income up to 138% of the federal poverty level, about $1,835 a month for one person in 2026.

In the 10 states that haven’t expanded, adults without children often can’t get Medicaid at any income, and people below the poverty line don’t qualify for marketplace subsidies either. If that’s your situation, ask the marketplace about a hardship exemption for a catastrophic plan. More in health insurance for low-income families.

Starting January 1, 2027, most expansion states will require adults to show monthly work, volunteer or school hours unless they qualify for an exemption, and to renew coverage every six months. Your state Medicaid office can tell you how it will apply to you.

COBRA: keep your old plan, at full price

COBRA lets you stay on your former employer’s plan, usually for up to 18 months. The catch is cost: you pay the whole premium, including the part your employer used to cover, plus up to a 2% fee.

It makes the most sense if you’re in the middle of treatment, have already met most of this year’s deductible, or need to keep the same doctors. You have 60 days to elect COBRA, and coverage is retroactive once you pay. If you choose COBRA and later drop it before it runs out, that doesn’t let you switch to a marketplace plan outside open enrollment. The same goes for dropping employer coverage on purpose.

Join a spouse’s or parent’s plan

If your spouse has job-based coverage, losing your own coverage lets you join their plan, usually if you ask within 30 days. Compare the cost with a marketplace plan, since employer coverage is often, but not always, cheaper.

If you’re under 26, you can join or stay on a parent’s plan even if you don’t live with them or aren’t their tax dependent. See how long you can stay on your parents’ health insurance.

Medicare if you’re 65 or older

At 65 you’re generally eligible for Medicare whether or not you work. If you lose job-based coverage after 65, you get an eight-month special enrollment period to sign up for Part B without a late penalty. People under 65 can also qualify for Medicare after 24 months of Social Security disability benefits, or with ALS or kidney failure. If you stopped working before 65 by choice, see getting health insurance if you retire early.

Stopgap options to be careful with

• Short-term health plans can be cheap and start quickly, but they can refuse to cover pre-existing conditions and skip benefits like maternity or mental health care. A 2024 federal rule capped them at four months, but in 2025 the government said it wouldn’t prioritize enforcing that cap while it reconsiders the rule, so what’s sold depends on your state. Some states ban them.
• Health care discount cards cut prices at participating providers but aren’t insurance and won’t cover a hospital stay.
• Catastrophic plans are real ACA coverage with low premiums and very high deductibles. They’re open to people under 30 and people with a hardship exemption, which for 2026 includes anyone whose income is too low or too high for subsidies. See catastrophic health insurance.

Ready to compare? See plans and prices for your ZIP code.

Frequently asked questions

Does unemployment income count for marketplace subsidies?

Yes. Unemployment benefits count as income when the marketplace estimates your annual income. Include wages you earned earlier in the year and any severance, too.

Can I get health insurance with no income at all?

Usually through Medicaid if your state expanded it. In states that haven’t, children and pregnant people may still qualify, and adults may be able to buy a catastrophic plan with a hardship exemption. Community health centers also charge on a sliding scale based on income.

What happens when I find a new job?

Report the change to the marketplace, generally within 30 days. Once you’re offered affordable job-based coverage, you usually stop qualifying for premium tax credits, so end the marketplace plan when the new coverage starts.

Is there a penalty for being uninsured?

Not at the federal level, which has had no penalty since 2019. California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington, DC, charge their own.

This article is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Rules and prices change and vary by state, so check HealthCare.gov, your state’s marketplace or Medicaid office, or a licensed agent for your situation. Last reviewed September 2026.