Can I get Immediate health insurance in California?

We get this call quite a bit... Usually right after the 1st of the month.

All the major plans (including Covered California) can only start the 1st of the month following enrollment.

If you're without coverage on the 1st or later, that's an issue.

There are other situations usually around the following:

• Need to show proof of coverage for work or sports
• Waiting for new employer coverage to start (waiting period up to 90 days)
• Uninsured with a sudden health issue (ER visits, etc)
• Missed Covered Ca or company open enrollment
• Lapsed coverage for non-payment or other mix-ups (carriers can be bad this way)

You name it... lots of needs for immediate health coverage.

So let's cover the bad and somewhat good news.

First, our credentials:

We'll cover these topics:

• Can I get coverage immediately?
• What health plans offer can turn around quickly in California
• Can any California coverage cover things that already happened
• A note on Special enrollment triggers

This is specific to California since other States have different options!

Can I get coverage immediately?

Here's the bad news.

California banned short-term health insurance in its infinite wisdom which really causes an issue.

It was a kneejerk reaction to DC expanding short-term for longer periods of time and they don't want anything competing with Covered California. Even if temporarily!

The problem is that there are many situations where short-term, immediate coverage would really come in handy.

If you find yourself in a gap without coverage and need it right away, what are the options?

There are really only two things we can look at and neither is ideal:

• Medi-Cal - through the State, usually based on income or pregnancy
• Health sharing plans - membership plans that come from religious carve-outs in the original ACA law

Let's look at both since they're the only options we have.

Just a head's up... there are companies out there selling bogus plans (usually based out of Texas) which are a nightmare. We always get the calls on the back-end when they don't pay for something big.

We can't give a name because it changes all the time as a marketing company gets in trouble and they just switch out the branding.

Interestingly, they're not cheap but you'll pay dearly if something comes up healthwise.

So... let's look at the two other options.

What health plans offer can turn around quickly in California

First, if something has already happened, only Medi-Cal through the State can go backwards.

Usually to the 1st of the month in which you enroll but sometimes back 3 months.

You generally have to qualify for Medi-Cal based on income being under a certain range although pregnancy is also a big trigger.

It's the only thing that will go backwards! Reach out to the local county office if you think this might be an option.

Otherwise, health sharing plans like OneShare can start midnight following enrollment if approved.

Health sharing plans are not health insurance! They work like membership plans but we haven't had any issues with the major one we work with for situations where we don't have any other options.

You can quote and compare the OneShare options here:

Again, there is some religious verbiage since they were originally a carve-out from the ACA (Obamacare) law in order to avoid the penalty (which still exists in California).

We compared the plans for people who truly have no other immediate options and found OneShare to be the most flexible in terms of eligibility (just 5 statements agreed to), a PPO network, and a track record of actually paying when it should.

This is important since health sharing plans are not regulated by the State department of insurance the way that health insurance is.

Look... if you can get CoveredCa plans, that's the way to go for short periods of time (in between jobs, etc) since you can cancel month to month and you can quote those here.

The OneShare is there to get us to when Covered Ca or employer coverage will actually start (1st of the month following enrollment at the earliest).

You can get a 30-day block of it at a minimum if needed and cancel month to month.

OneShare will not cover pre-existing conditions so this is more like short-term health plans in other States... really there for emergency or accidental things that can come up.

For most people, that's what they're after anyway. The whole "get hit by a bus" thing.

A quick note on periods outside open enrollment.

A note on Special enrollment triggers

Ever since Covid, California has been very generous with Special Enrollment Periods outside of open enrollment.

We'll see these pop up for storms and fires generally for months at a time across different counties so check in with us to see if we can take advantage of them.

This won't start till 1st of the month after enrollment so it's not "immediate" but we can get the OneShare to take us out to when the plan will start.

Of course, this is all complicated so let us help you... there's zero cost for our assistance.

Unless California brings back short-term, we have Medi-Cal or OneShare for immediate options for now.

It's our only way to get some protection that can start right away in California!