COBRA Alternatives in Indiana (2026)

Your options after leaving a job in Indiana

When you leave a job in Indiana, federal COBRA usually lets you keep your employer's plan if the company has 20 or more employees. You pay the whole premium yourself plus up to a 2% fee, which often comes to several hundred dollars or more a month for one person.

If you worked for a smaller company, you may not be able to keep the group plan. Indiana's small-employer continuation law is written into the code but only takes effect once lawmakers fund it, so do not count on it. Ask your employer in writing what, if anything, you can keep.

Losing job-based coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment window for a Marketplace plan. Because subsidies are based on your expected income for the whole year, a mid-year job loss can make a Marketplace plan much cheaper than COBRA. Compare both before your COBRA election deadline passes.

If your income drops sharply, check the Healthy Indiana Plan. For 2026 a single adult can qualify with yearly income up to about $22,026. From January 2027, most new applicants must also show three months of work, school or volunteer activity, though job loss itself does not end your right to apply.

How federal COBRA works

Federal COBRA lets you keep your former employer’s group plan if the employer had 20 or more employees. Coverage usually lasts up to 18 months, and you can be charged the full premium plus a 2% administrative fee, because your employer stops paying its share.

You generally have 60 days from your election notice to choose COBRA. Coverage is retroactive, so some people wait and only elect it if they need care during that window. Talk to an agent before relying on that, because missing the deadline ends the option.

Indiana state continuation

If you leave a job at an Indiana employer with 20 or more workers, federal COBRA usually lets you keep the same group plan, generally for 18 months, but you pay the full premium plus a fee. If your employer is smaller, you may have no right to keep the group plan at all, so a Marketplace plan is often the main option. Losing job-based coverage gives you a 60-day window to enroll in a Marketplace plan outside open enrollment.

Marketplace plans and your special enrollment period

Losing job-based coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, so you don’t have to wait for open enrollment. In Indiana, HealthCare.gov is the federal government’s official marketplace for Indiana. We’re an independent, licensed insurance agency, not part of HealthCare.gov or any government agency, and we can help you compare Marketplace plans and enroll. Indiana uses the federal Marketplace, so enrollment runs through HealthCare.gov. Pick a plan by December 15 for coverage that starts January 1; plans chosen December 16 to January 15 start February 1.

Marketplace premiums are based on your expected income for the year, not last year’s. If you’re between jobs, a lower income estimate can mean a much larger premium tax credit. The extra federal premium tax credits that started in 2021 expired at the end of 2025. The House passed a three-year extension in January 2026, but it did not become law, so 2026 subsidies in Indiana follow the original ACA rules: help shrinks as income rises and stops for households above 400% of the federal poverty level. The Indiana Department of Insurance said the expected loss of the enhanced credits was a major reason insurers asked for large 2026 rate increases.

If your income dropped

Indiana covers working-age adults through the Healthy Indiana Plan. For 2026, a single adult age 19 to 64 can qualify with yearly income up to about $22,026 (about $29,870 for a couple). Starting January 1, 2027, most HIP members who are not exempt must log 80 hours a month of work, school, training or volunteering, or earn at least $580 a month, and new applicants must show three months of compliance before they apply.

What coverage costs