If you’ve lost your job, start by finding out exactly when your health insurance ends. Your last day at work and your last day of coverage may be different.
Then compare your options promptly. You may qualify for Health First Colorado, a plan through Connect for Health Colorado, coverage through a family member’s employer, or continuation of your existing plan.
Don’t assume COBRA is your only choice—or that you need to wait until you find another job.
Your main coverage options
| Option | When it’s worth checking | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Health First Colorado, Colorado’s Medicaid program | Your household income has dropped | Eligibility rules, application requirements, and coverage dates |
| Connect for Health Colorado | You’re losing qualifying employer coverage | Special enrollment deadline, financial assistance, and the new plan’s network |
| COBRA or state continuation | Keeping your existing coverage would be useful | Full premium, election and payment deadlines, and how long coverage continues |
| A spouse’s or parent’s employer plan | You’re eligible to join a family member’s coverage | The employer’s enrollment deadline, premium, and eligibility rules |
Losing employer coverage creates an enrollment opportunity
Losing qualifying job-based health insurance generally gives you a special enrollment period to buy an individual or family plan. This can apply whether you were laid off, quit, or otherwise left your job.
The loss of insurance is the qualifying event—not unemployment by itself.
The marketplace enrollment window generally includes the 60 days before coverage ends and the 60 days afterward. Apply before your old coverage ends whenever possible, and confirm the new plan’s effective date.
Waiting until the end of that window can leave a gap. Individual plans generally start on the first of a month rather than immediately when you apply.
Keep the employer or insurer notice showing whose coverage is ending and the termination date. You may need it to verify your enrollment eligibility.
Our qualifying event guide explains special enrollment opportunities.
Apply for Medicaid if your income drops
Health First Colorado accepts applications year-round. You don’t need to wait for open enrollment.
Earnings from earlier in the year do not automatically disqualify you after a job loss. For many applicants, Medicaid eligibility looks at current monthly household income. Colorado also has rules for fluctuating and annualized income, so report your circumstances accurately rather than deciding you’re ineligible based on your former salary.
Include household income, unemployment benefits, severance, and other requested information. These payments can affect the determination.
Children may qualify for Health First Colorado or Child Health Plan Plus even when their parents don’t qualify for the same program.
Apply promptly, even if you expect unemployment to be temporary. Ask about coverage for recent medical bills too; retroactive coverage can be available when you meet the applicable requirements.
Changes affecting some adults in 2027
Health First Colorado has announced new requirements beginning in January 2027, including work or qualifying-activity requirements for some adults and more frequent renewals. Exceptions apply.
It has also announced shorter retroactive coverage periods, including a one-month lookback for certain adult applicants. Don’t rely on being able to wait several months and have every earlier bill covered.
Read application requests and eligibility notices carefully. Losing a job does not, by itself, establish whether you meet or are exempt from these requirements.
Marketplace financial help uses annual income
Financial assistance through Connect for Health Colorado uses your household’s projected income for the full calendar year.
That includes income earned before you lost your job, plus income you reasonably expect afterward. Don’t enter zero annual income simply because you’re currently unemployed.
For example, someone who earned $45,000 before a layoff still includes those earnings when estimating the year’s marketplace income.
Use our MAGI calculator and Colorado subsidies guide to work through the estimate. Update your application when your expectations change.
Compare COBRA before choosing
COBRA can let you continue your existing employer plan temporarily. You usually pay the portion your employer previously paid as well as your own share, plus an administrative fee.
It can still be worth considering if you’re receiving treatment, want to keep your providers, or have already paid substantially toward the plan’s deductible and out-of-pocket maximum. A new individual plan generally starts those accumulators over.
You don’t have to elect COBRA before comparing marketplace coverage.
Be careful about choosing COBRA with the intention of dropping it later. Voluntarily canceling COBRA or stopping premium payments generally doesn’t create a new marketplace special enrollment period.
Other opportunities can apply when COBRA is exhausted, an employer’s COBRA contribution ends, you’re still within the original loss-of-coverage enrollment window, or open enrollment is underway.
What happens when you get another job?
If the new employer offers coverage, confirm when it starts and coordinate the end of your temporary coverage. An offer of affordable employer coverage that meets minimum-value requirements can affect marketplace financial assistance.
If you have Medicaid, report the income and coverage changes. Don’t cancel it based only on an assumption about your new eligibility; follow the state’s determination and notice.
Losing Medicaid because you’re no longer eligible generally creates an opportunity to enroll in marketplace coverage.
Getting a job that doesn’t offer insurance, however, does not automatically create that opportunity. This is one reason to maintain coverage during unemployment rather than waiting to address insurance later.
Already have an individual health plan?
If you lose your job but keep the same individual policy, report the income change. It may change your eligibility for financial assistance or another coverage program.
Don’t let the policy lapse while assuming you can restart it whenever your finances improve. Nonpayment generally doesn’t create a special enrollment opportunity.
Get help before your coverage ends
Contact us with your coverage termination date, household information, estimated income, and any COBRA offer.
We can help compare your options and coordinate the transition. The first priority is knowing which deadlines apply before they pass.