Can You Cancel Your Health Insurance At Any Time?

Health Insurance is necessary for today’s time. However, it always has been, but the turbulent times made health insurance more relevant today. But there are many reasons because of which one may have to cancel the health insurance. These reasons may range from an opportunity for better health insurance coverage or worsening financial conditions.

One might be eligible for a health insurance coverage like Medicare after being eligible for it. In some cases, people wish to cancel their old health insurance when they start working for a new company, and better health insurance coverage is being provided to them by this new company. Sometimes, the situation is not so kind, and some people have to cancel their health insurance simply because now they cannot afford it. Whatever the reasons may be, in this post, we will walk you through the whole process of canceling the health insurance.

So, now come to the base question first before diving into the intricacies of the process. Can you cancel your individual health insurance at any time? Yes, of course, you can cancel it at any time without a shred of doubt. You are at full liberty to do so.

Can You Also Cancel Your Employee Health Insurance At Any Time?

Employee health insurance is also like any other health insurance; the only difference is that your employer is providing it. So like any other health insurance, you can also cancel it at any point in time. The terms and conditions might slightly differ from your usual health insurance. For instance, the premium contributions should not be deducted by the companies pre-tax to cancel the health insurance at any time. If that is the case, then the employee would not be able to cancel and opt for a new health plan before the opening of the enlistment period or before becoming eligible to go for it mid-way. We will take a look at those eligibility criteria in the coming paragraphs.

Nevertheless, suppose you want to cancel your employee health insurance because you have a new job and your new employer provides better health coverage with new health insurance. In that case, you can straight away cancel it without thinking about the enrollment opening date or meeting specific eligibility criteria.

How Can You Cancel Your Employer Health Insurance Plan?

Suppose you only wish to upgrade to another health insurance plan and not leave the job altogether. In that case, you can contact your HR department at work and cancel your existing employer’s health insurance. The same condition of pre-tax is also applicable in this scenario which we have discussed in the above paragraph. The employer is enlisted in Section 125 Plan, and the cancellation can only happen during the open enrollment period.

Some Things To Keep In Mind While Cancelling The Health Insurance

Better To Cancel By Contacting The Company. Nowadays, you can cancel your health insurance by logging into your online account. It is an easy way to cancel it, but it would be better to cancel it by contacting them, and it is also easy as they will take care of the process. One can find the contact number on the insurance card. You can also have the confirmation of the cancellation.

Follow All The Cancellation Steps. Every health insurance company has its cancellation policy, and it may vary from company to company. Once you have confirmed all the steps, please go through them without skipping any of them. After completing the process, you should confirm the cancellation, just in case any discrepancy arises in the future.

Check For The Refund. Health insurance plans are mostly provided on a pro-rata basis where you have to pay for the yearly basis in advance, so if you cancel it before the end of the covered time, you may get a refund from the insurance company. However, sometimes the sum is not refunded, and the refund is wholly grounded in your health insurance policy.

Would You Be Able To Get New Health Insurance After Cancellation?

As it must be clear by now that you can cancel your health insurance at any time of your choice. But what about getting new health insurance after that? Here it becomes tricky. It depends on the type of health insurance you have had. One can easily move to a new health insurance coverage if the previous one was with the old employer company. However, moving to a new health insurance plan would be a little tricky if it was with a private insurance provider. If your case did not meet certain eligibility conditions, you would have to wait until the opening of the enrollment period for opting for a new health insurance plan.

However, you would be able to opt for new health insurance if you could meet the specific condition to be eligible to do so. These eligibility criteria may vary from getting a new job to getting married. If one has become a father or mother by giving birth or by adopting, or legal separation or divorce has happened, or the spouse’s death, one would be eligible to get new health insurance even if it is not in the open enrollment period.

Another condition in which you do not have to wait for the enrollment period to open is when you have changed your residence, and your old health insurance is not covered in your new area of residence.

Use Short Term Insurance During Gap Period

Canceling health insurance is always your choice, and whatever the reasons may be, you can cancel it whenever you want. However, living without health insurance is not a good choice in these uncertain times. So, suppose you are not eligible to get a new insurance plan for health due to any reasons. In that case, you can opt for short-term insurance to cover any unforeseeable illness and accidents.