Coverage Start Date

Standard Individual & Family Coverage

Most California health insurance carriers allow you to choose 1st or the 15th of each month as your coverage start date. On the application you will be given two options

Option 1. Choose a specific date of 1st or 15th of the month.

Option 2. Choose the first 15th or 1st of the month AFTER your policy is approved.

An example could be: today is March 7th and you’re applying for coverage. You have the option of requesting a start date of March 15th, April 1st or April 15th. With option 1 even though your application may get approved after your request date, your policy will be issued with the date that you have requested. With the option 2 your policy date will be the next 15th or the 1st after approval date.

If you need coverage right away you may want to consider applying for short-term coverage. Based on the above example if you are applying for coverage on March 7th it would be best to get coverage starting March 15th. That could mean you are without insurance for 8 days. Please contact our office so we can assist you with this issue.

Short Term California Health Insurance Coverage

If you are applying for short-term coverage, most companies honor the request to start the coverage right away if you are approved. We recommend short-term coverage when you know for a fact you will have coverage through your work.

Group California Health Insurance

The coverage start date is usually the 1st of the month. However, a few companies offer the 15th of the month as an alternative.