How do you cancel a health insurance policy?
“To sum it up…”
- The steps you must take to end your health insurance plan through the Healthcare Marketplace will vary depending on the reason you are ending coverage and who you are canceling it for
- If you want to cancel your employer-based health insurance plan, you should speak to your human resources representative
- If you are ending coverage for just the household contact, you will need to call the Marketplace directly so that others in the household don’t lose coverage
- If you are canceling for everyone on your plan, you can cancel it online
- If you cancel your marketplace insurance and do not enroll in a new plan, you may be responsible for paying the individual mandate fine
How do I cancel a plan for a household member who has passed away?
It is important to let the marketplace know as soon as a household member on the plan has passed away. The deceased member’s coverage needs to be canceled as soon as possible and the savings and tax credits will be adjusted appropriately for the remaining members on the plan.
You can report this information online or contact the Marketplace call center directly on the phone. You will need to inform the marketplace of the death and possibly submit additional documentation.
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How do I end coverage for just the household contact?
If the household contact on your plan wants to cancel their insurance, you must contact a marketplace representative. You should not try to change this online because the entire plan may be canceled and your whole household will lose their coverage.
A representative at the marketplace call center can help you change the household contact to a different household member or take the current head of household off your insurance entirely. The household contact is typically the person who applied for the marketplace plan and created the household account.
How do I cancel coverage for just some of the people on your plan?
If you want to cancel coverage for just some of the members on your plan, you can do this online. In most cases, their coverage will end pretty immediately. However, this is not always the case and the termination date can depend on your particular circumstances.
In situations where coverage does not end immediately, it will end on the last day of the month you are in if you canceled by the 15th.
If you removed someone from your plan after the 15th and the coverage does not end immediately, it will terminate at the end of the next month so you will have some time.
To remove certain members from your plan, log in to your Marketplace account and choose to update your existing application. Click report a life change and then report a change in household size. When you get to the who needs coverage question, only click on those members who want to keep their coverage.
Save this updated information and then remove those who no longer need coverage and confirm the removal. You will need to do this for each household member that you wish to remove. You will need to save this information, choose a plan, and confirm enrollment.
How do I cancel the entire plan for everyone?
You can terminate a plan for your entire household online or by speaking to a marketplace representative on the phone. Your coverage will usually end two weeks after you cancel the plan and your insurance company will continue to collect premiums during this time. However, you can set a later termination date that is further than two weeks if you need more time or you are not sure when your new insurance plan will start.
To terminate your plan, log on to your marketplace account and click on your existing applications. Select your plan and click on the red “end all coverage” button and pick your desired termination date. When you have finished canceling your plan, a terminated status should appear above this plan on the marketplace website.
Should I cancel my insurance policy if I am eligible for Medicaid or CHIP?
If you become eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, you should immediately end your marketplace coverage because you will no longer qualify for any marketplace subsidies or other cost-sharing reductions as long as your Medicaid program meets the minimum essential coverage requirements under the Affordable Care Act.
You can still have a marketplace plan if you wish, but you will have to pay the full price. You cannot be enrolled in a marketplace plan and Medicaid so it is recommended that you cancel your marketplace coverage.
How do I cancel my Marketplace plan to enroll in Medicare?
You can be enrolled in both a marketplace plan and Medicare Part A at the same time. However, once you enroll in Medicare Part A, you will no longer be eligible for savings on your marketplace plan so you would have to pay the full price.
For this reason, you may want to cancel your marketplace plan. You can do this online or by calling the Marketplace and speaking to a representative.
What happens if I cancel my marketplace plan and do not enroll in a different one?
If you cancel your insurance plan and do not enroll in a new one, you may be responsible for paying the individual mandate penalty fine. The fine is calculated in one of two ways and you will pay whichever of the two is greater.
The tax penalty for not having health insurance will either be 2.5 percent of your household income or a fixed rate of $695 per adult in the household and $347.50 per child under the age of 18 with a maximum of $2,085.
The fee is only 1/12 of the yearly amount for each month that you did not have coverage, so if you had coverage for part of the year, you will not have to pay for those months. If you were only without coverage for less than three months, you should qualify for the short coverage gap exemption and will not have to pay the fine.
You should wait to cancel your existing plan until your new plan starts.
How do you cancel a health insurance policy?
The cancellation procedure depends on your specific circumstances. You should be able to cancel most marketplace plans online by logging into your healthcare.gov account.
In some cases, such as when you are trying to change the household contact, you may need to call the marketplace call center and speak to a representative about terminating the plan or removing members from the plan.
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