Can You Get Health Insurance If You’re Already Pregnant?

On this page

• When you can sign up for a Marketplace plan
• States where pregnancy opens an enrollment window
• Medicaid and CHIP while you’re pregnant
• Job-based coverage
• Short-term plans and sharing ministries
• What having a baby costs
• If you’re pregnant and uninsured right now
• Frequently asked questions

When you can sign up for a Marketplace plan

A Marketplace plan can’t reject you or charge you more because you’re pregnant. Once you’re enrolled, HealthCare.gov says, your pregnancy and childbirth are covered from the day the plan starts. For what that includes, see maternity coverage explained.

What you can’t do in most states is sign up the week you find out. Pregnancy isn’t a qualifying life event on HealthCare.gov; HHS considered adding it and said in 2015 that it wouldn’t. The birth is a qualifying event, with 60 days to enroll and coverage that can start on the baby’s birth date. Other events, such as losing job-based coverage, still count. See qualifying life events.

For 2027 coverage, open enrollment on HealthCare.gov runs from November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027. Pick a plan by December 15 and coverage starts January 1. Sign up December 16 through January 15 and it starts February 1, once you pay the first premium. Some state exchanges run later; see when open enrollment is.

States where pregnancy opens an enrollment window

As of October 2026, 11 state-run exchanges treat pregnancy as a qualifying event, according to healthinsurance.org: Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia. Illinois and Virginia added it for 2026. In Rhode Island, state law requires insurers to offer the window, so ask HealthSource RI how it works for exchange plans. California’s governor vetoed pregnancy bills in 2025 and 2026.

Most of these windows are for people who don’t have coverage yet, and the details differ:

• Illinois: 60 days after a licensed provider confirms the pregnancy. For new enrollees, coverage can start the first of the month the pregnancy was confirmed or the month after.
• Virginia: any time during the pregnancy and up to 60 days after the birth.
• Vermont: new enrollees only, with coverage starting the first of the month after you pick a plan.

Medicaid and CHIP while you’re pregnant

If you’re pregnant and uninsured, check Medicaid first: you can apply in any month, and the limits are higher than for other adults. Every state has to cover pregnant people with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level. As of January 2026, 38 states set the limit at 200% or higher, and the median was 213% once CHIP options are counted, according to KFF. Medicaid limits run from 138% in Idaho, Louisiana and South Dakota to more than 300% in Wisconsin and DC.

Medicaid also counts a pregnant woman as herself plus the number of babies she’s expecting, so if you live alone you count as a household of two. In a state at the 213% median, that’s an income limit of about $46,100 a year for 2026. See Medicaid income limits by state.

• CHIP: As of January 2026, 7 states used CHIP to cover pregnant people, and 25 covered prenatal care through a CHIP option for the unborn child that doesn’t depend on the parent’s immigration status. That option survived the October 1, 2026 immigrant-eligibility changes.
• After the birth: every state except Arkansas keeps pregnancy Medicaid for 12 months after delivery (Wisconsin joined July 1, 2026; Arkansas stops at 60 days). A baby born to a mother on Medicaid is enrolled automatically for at least a year.
• Earlier bills: Medicaid can usually pay for care from up to three months before you applied. For applications made on or after January 1, 2027, that drops to two months for pregnant applicants.
• If you already have a Marketplace plan: HealthCare.gov says not to report the pregnancy if you want to keep it. If you report it and qualify for Medicaid or CHIP, you can’t stay on the Marketplace plan.

Job-based coverage

Under federal rules, pregnancy doesn’t let you join your employer’s plan or a spouse’s plan mid-year, but the birth does. You get 30 days to enroll, the baby’s coverage starts on the birth date, and you and your spouse can join too. Otherwise you’d wait for the employer’s open enrollment. The plan can’t exclude a pregnancy that began before you enrolled, since federal law bans pre-existing condition exclusions in group plans.

Some states, including DC and Rhode Island, also require state-regulated group plans to offer a pregnancy enrollment window. Ask HR whether your plan follows those rules.

If you’re under 26 and covered on a parent’s plan, check the benefits. Plans have to cover prenatal care for dependents as preventive care, but large employers’ plans don’t have to cover labor and delivery for dependent children. See how long you can stay on a parent’s plan.

Short-term plans and sharing ministries

Short-term plans can turn down applicants with pre-existing conditions, including pregnancy, and rarely include maternity benefits. When KFF reviewed 24 short-term products in 2018, none covered maternity care. See short-term health insurance.

Health care sharing ministries aren’t insurance and don’t have to share maternity bills. Many that do won’t share costs for a pregnancy that began before you joined, and some exclude births outside marriage. Medi-Share, for example, treats a pregnancy that started before membership as a pre-existing condition that isn’t eligible for sharing. See health care sharing ministries.

What having a baby costs

For people with job-based insurance, pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum care averaged $20,416 in 2021-2023, with $2,743 paid out of pocket, according to Peterson-KFF. A vaginal birth averaged $15,712 in total and a C-section $28,998. There’s no reliable public figure for what hospitals bill uninsured patients. Medicaid paid for 39.8% of U.S. births in 2024. See how much it costs to have a baby.

If you’re pregnant and uninsured right now

1. Apply for Medicaid now, through your state Medicaid agency or HealthCare.gov. The sooner you apply, the more of your prenatal care it can cover.
2. Find a community health center. Federally funded centers serve everyone, even people who can’t pay, and set fees by income and family size. You can find a health center by ZIP code.
3. Ask the hospital about financial assistance before you deliver. Nonprofit hospitals must have a written policy on who gets free or discounted care.
4. Mark your enrollment dates. If Medicaid says no, use your state’s pregnancy window if it has one. Otherwise, on HealthCare.gov, pick a plan by December 15 for coverage starting January 1; some state exchanges have later deadlines.

If you go into labor, a hospital emergency department has to examine you and either stabilize you or arrange an appropriate transfer, whether or not you can pay.

Want to see what a 2027 plan would cost before open enrollment starts November 1? Compare quotes by ZIP code.

Frequently asked questions

Can an insurance company deny me because I’m pregnant?

Not for a Marketplace plan, which has to cover the pregnancy from your start date. Job-based plans can’t exclude it either. Short-term plans and other coverage outside the ACA rules can still turn you down.

Is pregnancy a qualifying life event?

Not on HealthCare.gov, and not for job-based plans under federal rules. It is on 11 state-run exchanges, including New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Virginia. The baby’s birth is a qualifying event everywhere.

Can I get Medicaid while pregnant if I earn too much for regular Medicaid?

Often, yes. Pregnancy limits are higher than for other adults, and Medicaid counts your unborn baby in your household size, which raises the income you can have and still qualify.

If I enroll during open enrollment, will the plan cover a baby due in March?

Yes. On HealthCare.gov, pick a plan by December 15 and pay the first premium, and coverage starts January 1, so the plan covers your remaining prenatal care and the delivery.

This article is general information, not medical, insurance or legal advice. Medicaid income limits, enrollment windows and plan rules vary by state and change often. Last reviewed October 2026.