COBRA Alternatives in Nevada (2026)

Your options after leaving a job in Nevada

If you leave a job in Nevada, federal COBRA lets you keep your employer plan when the company had 20 or more employees. You can be charged up to 102% of the full premium, which is often far more than you paid as an employee.

Nevada does not have its own continuation law for smaller employers. The old small-group continuation rule was repealed in 2014, so if your employer had fewer than 20 workers, you likely have no right to stay on the plan.

Losing job-based coverage opens a special enrollment period, so you can pick a Marketplace plan without waiting for open enrollment. You can compare those plans side by side with COBRA, including Battle Born State Plans, and see whether a tax credit lowers the price.

If your income has dropped, check Nevada Medicaid. Adults under 65 can qualify with income up to about 138% of the poverty level, and you can apply any time of year.

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.

Former Nevada small-employer continuation (NRS 689B.245 to 689B.249), repealed effective January 1, 2014

Nevada used to let workers at employers with fewer than 20 employees keep their group coverage for a period after leaving, but that law was repealed when the state exchange opened in 2014. If your employer had fewer than 20 workers, you usually have no continuation right and should look at Marketplace plans or Medicaid instead. If federal COBRA applies, you can be charged up to 102% of the full cost of the plan.

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 Nevada, Nevada Health Link is Nevada’s official, state-run health insurance marketplace. We’re an independent, licensed insurance agency, not part of Nevada Health Link or any government agency, and we can help you compare Marketplace plans and enroll. Nevada runs its own exchange, and it is the only place Nevadans can get federal premium tax credits. For 2026, enrolling by December 31 meant coverage started January 1, while enrolling January 1 to 15 meant coverage started 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 help that began in 2021 expired at the end of 2025. For 2026, households earning more than 400% of the federal poverty level no longer qualify for any premium tax credit, and people below that level get smaller credits than before. Average full-price rates in Nevada also rose about 22% for 2026, so many enrollees saw their net premium climb sharply.

If your income dropped

Nevada expanded Medicaid on January 1, 2014. Adults under 65 can qualify with household income up to 138% of the federal poverty level, about $16,105 a year for a single person for 2026 coverage, and you can apply at any time of year. Under a 2025 federal law, many expansion adults will need to show 80 hours a month of work or similar activity starting in 2027, with exemptions for some groups.

What coverage costs