What health insurance options do I have if I miss the open enrollment window?

Outside open enrollment you generally need a qualifying life event to trigger a special enrollment period: losing other coverage, marriage, having a baby, moving, or income changes affecting subsidy eligibility. These typically give you 60 days to enroll on the ACA marketplace. Loss of a job usually opens both a special enrollment period and COBRA eligibility.

If no life event applies, your fallbacks are Medicaid (available year-round if you qualify by income) or short-term medical plans, which are cheap but skip essential benefits and can deny pre-existing conditions. Short-term plans are a stopgap, not real coverage. Check healthcare.gov or your state exchange to see whether a special enrollment period applies to your situation.