The clocks, in one table
| What happened | What clock starts | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Job ended, hours cut, coverage lost | Marketplace special enrollment | 60 days |
| Same event, employer coverage | COBRA election | 60 days from notice or loss, whichever is later |
| Divorce or legal separation | Your notice to the plan administrator | 60 days |
| Turning 26 off a parent’s plan | Special enrollment, or New York’s Young Adult Option | 60 days |
| Turning 65 | Medicare initial enrollment | 7 months around the birthday |
| Stopping work after 65 | Medicare special enrollment | 8 months |
| Moving to New York | Special enrollment | 60 days |
| Baby born or adopted | Special enrollment | 60 days |
| Marriage | Special enrollment | 60 days |
| Income or household changed, already enrolled | Report to NY State of Health | 30 days |
| New job with a waiting period | Employer’s plan must start by day 90 | 90 days, maximum |
Every one of these is a date on a document. Keep the termination letter, the judgment, the lease, the offer letter. The marketplace is verifying the date, and a document with the date on it ends the conversation.
The two clocks New York makes longer
The clock people miss most
A divorce or legal separation is a COBRA qualifying event worth up to 36 months of continuation, which is double what a job loss gives. But the notice duty sits with you, not with the employer or the plan, and the window is 60 days from the judgment.
Miss it and the right is gone — not reduced, gone. It is the single most expensive deadline on this page, and it is the one nobody is told about at the time. What to do the week a divorce is finalized.
Situations, one page each
Work changes
Your job ended: COBRA or the marketplace — the comparison that actually decides it, and why COBRA is a worse default in New York than it is elsewhere · Your hours were cut — losing eligibility without losing the job · You start a new job — the 90-day rule and the gap it leaves · You are retiring before 65 — the gap years, and why the subsidy math changes the moment the paycheck stops
Age and household
Turning 26 · Turning 65 · Divorce or legal separation · A death in the family · Your student plan is ending
Money and geography
You moved to New York · Your income changed mid-year
Already covered elsewhere on this site: a birth, where the rules are unusually good in New York and mostly automatic. Newborn coverage and the 12-month postpartum rule.
Before any of it: the question that skips the clocks
Every deadline on this page belongs to the marketplace. Three New York programs have no season at all and accept applications in any month: Medicaid, the Essential Plan and Child Health Plus.
A life change usually moves income, and income is what decides those three. So the first move after a job ends or hours are cut is not to work out which event you qualify for. It is to check where your household now sits. The five-question check · 2026 income limits for every program.
Questions people ask
How long do I have after a life change?
Generally 60 days from the date of the event for a marketplace special enrollment period. Two exceptions matter: 30 days to report a change if you are already enrolled, and 7 months around your 65th birthday for Medicare.
Does the clock start when I find out?
No. It runs from the date of the event. Discovering a lapse months later does not reset it.
What if I miss the window?
You wait for open enrollment, which in New York runs November 1 to January 31 — unless you qualify for Medicaid, the Essential Plan or Child Health Plus, which have no season.
What does New York do differently?
Two things: a parent’s fully insured group policy can cover an unmarried young adult through age 29, and continuation coverage runs to a total of 36 months rather than 18.
Who has to report a divorce to the health plan?
You do. The qualified beneficiary has 60 days from the judgment to notify the plan administrator, and the employer does not do it for you.
Is cancelling my own coverage a qualifying event?
No. Losing coverage is an event; voluntarily dropping coverage you could have kept generally is not.
In this section
Turning 26 in New York: You May Be Able to Stay on the Parent's Plan Until 29
After 26, New York lets an unmarried young adult buy back onto a parent's group policy through age 29. No need to live at home, be a dependent or be a student.
Turning 65 in New York: The Seven-Month Window and the Penalty That Never Goes Away
Medicare enrollment runs seven months around your 65th birthday. Skipping Part B safely depends on employer size; a mistake costs 10% more per year, for life.
Divorce and Health Coverage in New York: The 60 Days Nobody Tells You About
You must tell the plan yourself within 60 days of the divorce judgment to keep up to 36 months of COBRA, double what a job loss gives. The employer will not.
Your Job Ended: COBRA or the Marketplace
COBRA keeps your doctors and costs what your employer was quietly paying. In New York the alternatives are strong, and both 60-day clocks run at once.
Your Hours Were Cut: Losing Coverage Without Losing the Job
Hours cut below the plan's eligibility line? That is a qualifying event: the same 60-day clock and COBRA rights as a layoff, and the Essential Plan may be free.
Starting a New Job: The 90-Day Rule and the Gap It Leaves
No group plan may make you wait more than 90 calendar days; 'the first of the month after 90 days' is lawful only inside that cap. How to cover the gap.
Retiring Before 65: Covering the Years Until Medicare
Retiring before Medicare? The premium tax credit runs on this year's income, so it grows once the paycheck stops. Two traps wait at the Medicare end.
You Moved to New York: What Your Old Plan Stops Doing
A move to New York opens a 60-day window, but only if you had coverage before it. Three programs ignore that rule, and an out-of-state plan does not travel.
Your Student Health Plan Is Ending
A student health plan ends on an academic-calendar date, often weeks after graduation. Losing it opens a 60-day window, and two New York options beat it.
Your Income Changed Mid-Year: The 30-Day Rule
Enrolled in New York? You have 30 days to report an income change, not 60. A raise left unreported becomes a tax bill; a drop can leave free coverage unclaimed.
A Death in the Family: What Happens to the Coverage
When the policyholder dies, the family has 60 days to tell the plan and keep up to 36 months of COBRA. Later bills are generally claims against the estate.
Sources
- NY State of Health — special enrollment periods (checked 2026-09-14)
- NYS Department of Financial Services — Young Adult Option through age 29 (checked 2026-09-14)
- NYS Department of Financial Services — state continuation coverage extension to 36 months (checked 2026-09-14)
- US Department of Labor — COBRA continuation coverage FAQs (checked 2026-09-14)
More in Life Changes and Health Coverage in New York: Every Clock That Starts
- A Death in the Family: What Happens to the Coverage — When the policyholder dies, the family has 60 days to tell the plan and keep up to 36 months of COBRA. Later bills are generally claims against the estate.
- Turning 26 in New York: You May Be Able to Stay on the Parent's Plan Until 29 — After 26, New York lets an unmarried young adult buy back onto a parent's group policy through age 29. No need to live at home, be a dependent or be a student.
- Turning 65 in New York: The Seven-Month Window and the Penalty That Never Goes Away — Medicare enrollment runs seven months around your 65th birthday. Skipping Part B safely depends on employer size; a mistake costs 10% more per year, for life.
This page explains how the system works. It is not medical advice. More.