How to Apply for a Plan
Applying for an insurance plan through the health care marketplace can be done
online through healthcare.gov or a state site, over the phone, or through regular
mail by filling out a form that can be mailed to you or downloaded from the Internet.
Before you fill out an online application, you'll need to create an account on
either healthcare.gov or your state's marketplace.
You'll need to know a few things about each person applying for coverage. Be ready
to provide:
- Social Security numbers (or document numbers for legal immigrants)
- information about employers and income
- policy numbers for any current health insurance plans
If you have a job that offers health insurance but you're not happy with it, you
can choose to get coverage through healthcare.gov instead. But before you apply, you'll
need to fill out a form called an Employer Coverage Tool that can be found on the
healthcare.gov website.
The application will ask for standard information like your name, your child's
name, your address, phone number, and email. You'll need to answer questions about
citizenship, dependents, and whether you plan to file a federal income tax return
the following year.
If you want help paying for insurance, you will have to provide information about
your yearly income (and the income of anyone else applying for coverage). This includes
income from jobs and other sources like:
- Social Security
- unemployment
- retirement accounts
- property rental
- alimony
If you pay alimony or interest on student loans, you can deduct the amount you
pay when you fill out your application.
What Happens Next?
Once you've submitted an application, healthcare.gov or your state's site will
determine if you or your children qualify for Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP. It will
also determine if you or your children are eligible to get insurance through the health
care marketplace. For most people, if you're an American citizen or legal immigrant
and you're not in jail, you'll be eligible.
Although it's unlikely, sometimes parents are eligible to buy insurance through
the health care marketplace but their children aren't. Sometimes kids are eligible
but their parents aren't. If either of these apply to you, you would have the right
to appeal the decision, and you could still get private insurance for anyone needing
coverage.
If you're eligible for coverage but don't qualify for any publicly subsidized programs,
the health care marketplace will present you with the insurance plans available in
your state based on your income and family situation. It will be up to you to decide
which policy to buy.