When California declares a state of emergency from a natural disaster, individuals and families in the affected counties can use a Special Enrollment Period to enroll or change their health care coverage.
The Palisades Fire in Southern California triggered a Special Enrollment Period for individuals and families impacted by the fires.
Individuals and families have a 60-day window to enroll in Covered California, or if they are current consumers, change their health plans. If someone has lost their health insurance because of the Palisades Fire, they can enroll in Covered California, outside of Open Enrollment, by March 8. If the individual or family wants the health insurance to start March 1st, they need to enroll by February 28th.
Current Covered California consumers can make changes to their health plans during the Special Enrollment Period. It may be advantageous for a family with a Bronze plan to use the Special Enrollment Period to move up to a Silver plan, especially if a family member will need unexpected medical attention because of the fire.
Changes and new enrollments between March 1 through March 8 will have health plan changes effective April 1st. The Qualifying Life Even dropdown menu on the Special Enrollment page of the application includes a state of emergency option. Consumers who may qualify for this SEP, select “County under state of emergency” from the dropdown menu and enter the date of the Qualifying Life Event.