Short-Term Health Insurance in Illinois:
Banned Since 2025 (Your Options)
Short-term health insurance is not sold in Illinois. Since January 1, 2025, Illinois law has barred insurers from issuing, renewing, or extending short-term, limited-duration health plans for Illinois residents. Here’s what the ban means and how you can still get covered: Get Covered Illinois, a Special Enrollment Period, Medicaid, or limited gap coverage.
Compare My Illinois Options ↓Is Short-Term Health Insurance Legal in Illinois?
Short-term health insurance is not sold in Illinois. Since January 1, 2025, Illinois law has barred insurers from issuing, renewing, or extending short-term, limited-duration health plans for Illinois residents. If you need coverage, you can enroll in an ACA plan through Get Covered Illinois, the state’s Marketplace, during Open Enrollment, or sooner if a qualifying life event such as losing job-based coverage, moving, marriage, or having a baby gives you a Special Enrollment Period, which generally lasts 60 days. Medicaid accepts applications year-round if your income qualifies, and your advisor can review gap or supplemental coverage that may be available in Illinois, which pays limited benefits and does not replace comprehensive health insurance.
The ban is in the Illinois Insurance Code at 215 ILCS 5/352c(b), added by Public Act 103-0649, which was signed on July 10, 2024. The law states: “On and after January 1, 2025, no company shall issue, deliver, amend, or renew short-term, limited-duration insurance” to Illinois residents.
Short-term plans are temporary, medically underwritten policies. They are not ACA-compliant, they exclude pre-existing conditions, and they don’t qualify for premium tax credits. Some other states still allow them, but for an Illinois resident there is no short-term plan to buy, renew, or extend today.
What the ban means for you
🚫 No new short-term plans
Insurers can’t issue or deliver a new short-term, limited-duration plan to an Illinois resident. If someone offers you a “short-term” or “temporary” plan, ask exactly what type of coverage it is and get the policy in writing before you pay.
🔄 No renewals or extensions
The ban also covers older policies: a short-term plan that began before 2025 can’t be renewed or extended. When its current term ends, the coverage ends.
⚠️ No special window when one ends
Short-term plans don’t count as minimum essential coverage, so losing one doesn’t qualify you for the loss-of-coverage Special Enrollment Period. Plan your next step before the term runs out.
✅ ACA and Medicaid are unchanged
The ban doesn’t affect ACA plans through Get Covered Illinois, Special Enrollment Periods after a qualifying life event, or Medicaid, which accepts applications year-round if your income qualifies.
What to Get Instead of Short-Term Insurance in Illinois
Without short-term plans, Illinois residents have four realistic paths. Which one fits depends on your timing, your income, and whether you’ve had a qualifying life event. Call (844) 788-3733 and a licensed FreedInsure advisor will walk through them with you for free.
📋 1. An ACA plan through Get Covered Illinois
Get Covered Illinois is the state’s official health insurance marketplace. It became a state-based exchange starting with the 2026 plan year, so Illinois residents enroll there instead of on HealthCare.gov. Open Enrollment for 2027 coverage starts November 1, 2026; Get Covered Illinois has not yet confirmed the end date. Marketplace plans must cover pre-existing conditions. Open Enrollment 2027 guide →
📅 2. A Special Enrollment Period
A qualifying life event such as losing job-based coverage, moving, marriage, or having a baby gives you a Special Enrollment Period, which generally lasts 60 days. Get Covered Illinois also treats pregnancy as a qualifying life event. For most events, coverage starts the first day of the month after you pick a plan. How Special Enrollment works →
💚 3. Medicaid, year-round
Medicaid accepts applications year-round if your income qualifies. Illinois expanded Medicaid, which generally covers adults with income below about 138% of the federal poverty level, and children can be covered through All Kids. Illinois HFS says new applicants in the adult expansion group who apply after 5:00 p.m. on December 31, 2026 will be subject to a new work requirement. Illinois Medicaid & ACA guide →
🩹 4. Gap or supplemental coverage
Your advisor can review gap or supplemental coverage that may be available in Illinois, which pays limited benefits and does not replace comprehensive health insurance. It is not an ACA Marketplace plan, and you can’t use a premium tax credit to pay for it. About gap coverage →
⚠️ Straight talk about gap coverage: Gap and supplemental plans pay limited benefits, so they can leave you owing a large part of the bill after a serious illness or hospital stay. Coverage that isn’t minimum essential coverage won’t open a Special Enrollment Period when it ends. Ask us to confirm in writing how any plan handles pre-existing conditions — Marketplace plans must cover them. Treat gap coverage as a supplement, or at most a limited stopgap until you can enroll in comprehensive coverage, never as a replacement for health insurance.
Check your tax credit first. The enhanced premium tax credits expired at the end of 2025 and are not back for 2027 under current law, unless Congress acts. That makes 2027 help smaller than it was in 2025, and households with income above 400% of the federal poverty level no longer qualify. If your income is between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level, you may still qualify for help paying your premium. Estimate your 2027 tax credit →
If You Need Coverage Now in Illinois
Find your situation below. Coverage start dates follow federal Special Enrollment Period rules, which apply to state exchanges like Get Covered Illinois; your advisor confirms the dates for your case.
| Your situation | Best option | When coverage can start |
|---|---|---|
| Losing job-based coverage (or lost it in the last 60 days) | Special Enrollment Period through Get Covered Illinois; compare it with any COBRA offer | Pick a plan by your last day of coverage and it starts the first day of the month after your old coverage ends; pick later and it starts the first of the month after you choose |
| Moved or got married | Special Enrollment Period (generally 60 days) | First day of the month after you pick a plan; these SEPs generally require qualifying coverage for at least one day in the 60 days before the event |
| New baby, adoption, or foster placement | Special Enrollment Period | Coverage can start on the day of the event, even if you enroll up to 60 days afterward |
| Pregnant | Get Covered Illinois treats pregnancy as a qualifying life event; check Medicaid if your income qualifies | Confirm your start date with Get Covered Illinois or your advisor before you apply |
| Low or no income | Medicaid for adults or All Kids for children, through Illinois HFS | Applications accepted year-round; HFS confirms your coverage start |
| No qualifying life event | 2027 Open Enrollment through Get Covered Illinois; ask about gap or supplemental coverage as a limited bridge | Open Enrollment starts November 1, 2026; Get Covered Illinois has not yet confirmed its 2027 deadlines |
| An older short-term plan is ending | Open Enrollment, Medicaid, or a Special Enrollment Period from a different qualifying life event | Losing a short-term plan doesn’t open a special window, so plan ahead |
Bottom line: For most Illinois residents who would have bought a short-term plan, the better path is a Get Covered Illinois plan — during Open Enrollment or a Special Enrollment Period — or Medicaid if your income qualifies. Not sure which applies to you? Call (844) 788-3733, or contact the Get Covered Illinois Customer Assistance Center at 1-866-311-1119.
Sources: 215 ILCS 5/352c(b), added by Illinois Public Act 103-0649; Get Covered Illinois; Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services; 45 CFR 155.420; CMS Special Enrollment Periods job aid (2026). Last reviewed October 1, 2026.
Illinois Short-Term Health Insurance FAQ
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