What Happens If You Forget To Pay Your Premium By The Due Date?

Life happens, and while you should make every effort to pay your health insurance premium on time, health insurance plans generally have grace periods. Your bill due date will vary by insurance company, but usually all insurance companies’ premiums are due on the 1st. It is important to check with your insurance company. You may have a grace period of 30 days, or if your insurance plan is through Nevada Health Link (on-exchange), it may be up to 90 days.

It is NOT a good idea to get behind, however. Most people that fall behind end up losing their coverage back to their last payment made, because coming up with 90 days of premium is not feasible for most. If it is a new policy, the premium usually needs to be paid before the policy starts. Also, insurance companies will consider you “late” on the 2nd of the month if the bill was due the 1st of the month. It is especially important that if you cannot make your premium payment on time, speak with your insurance broker/agent to see what flexibility your policy may have.

What Is a Grace Period?

The grace period is a short period after a payment is due that is allotted to avoid cancellation/termination. In health insurance, as long as you make your payment during the grace period, you will avoid losing your coverage.

If you have a Marketplace plan through Nevada Health Link and you qualified for an advanced premium tax credit, then your grace period is usually 90 days seeing that you’ve paid at least one month for the benefit year. If you are behind on your payments, however, benefits may not be covered until the full payment has been caught up. If you do not qualify for a premium tax credit, your grace period may be different. Your health insurance agent can give you information on the grace period for your policy.

What If I Miss My Grace Period?

If you do not make your payment during your grace period, then your health insurance policy is canceled retroactive to the last date your plan was paid for. In other words, if you miss your July, August and September payments and your policy is canceled, then no medical expenses incurred since the end of June are covered.

It is important to note that if you want to keep your health insurance beyond the grace period, you must completely catch up on payments. You cannot just stay three months behind on payments and maintain your coverage.

Can I Re-Enroll During Open Enrollment?

If your health insurance plan was terminated due to non-payment, then you will have the opportunity to re-enroll in a health insurance plan only during the next “Open Enrollment” which is usually November 1st through January 15th of each year. There is a catch, though. According to market stabilization rules that were finalized in 2017, health insurance companies may be able to recoup past-due premiums.

If you enroll in a plan offered by the same health insurance company within 12 months of your policy having been canceled, then the health insurance company can require that you pay the past-due amount before your coverage is in effect. This may be either one month or three months of premiums, depending on the length of the grace period. Alternately, if you are re-enrolling within the grace period, the health insurance company may require you to pay your past-due premiums.

The grace period does not reset at the end of the policy term if it auto-renews. This means that if you miss November and December payments and your plan auto-renews in January, you still need to catch up on payments to keep your coverage.​

Finding Affordable Coverage with Nevada Insurance Enrollment

Your monthly health insurance premium does not need to be a burden. At Nevada Insurance Enrollment, our licensed health insurance agents can help you understand the breakdown of your health insurance premium or get you signed up for affordable health insurance. Call anytime of the year for options.