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Special Enrollment Period (SEP): what it means

A Special Enrollment Period (SEP) is a time outside the yearly Open Enrollment when you can sign up for health insurance or change plans in the Health Insurance Marketplace. You qualify through certain life changes: losing health coverage, moving to a new ZIP code or county, getting married, having a baby or adopting a child.

In Spanish it is

Periodo especial de inscripción (SEP)

Also written as: SEP · special enrollment

A pregnant woman takes groceries out of the car in front of her garage.

Verified on October 17, 2026

3 official sources

See the whole dictionary

The full explanation

You usually have a short window before or after the change to pick a plan, and you may be asked for documents that prove it. You can enroll in Medicaid or CHIP at any time. Job-based plans must also offer a special enrollment period.

An example

Andrés moves from Puerto Rico to Florida. Moving to the U.S. from a U.S. territory is one of the changes that may give him a Special Enrollment Period, so he goes to HealthCare.gov and picks a plan before his window closes.

You will see it in…

HealthCare.gov, CuidadoDeSalud.gov or your state's Marketplace site
Notices asking for documents to confirm your special enrollment period
Your employer's papers when your job-based coverage changes

Words that go with it

You will rarely see this word alone. These are the ones that show up with it on the same papers.

Still confused by a paper?

A HUD-approved housing counselor can walk you through it. Agencies usually charge little or nothing, many work in Spanish, and they do not sell you anything.

What a housing counselor does See free help

Official sources

We sum up what these official sources say, in plain words. We add no rules they do not state; when a rule changes, the definition and its date change.

1. HealthCare.gov (CMS) · Special Enrollment Period (SEP) (glossary) (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026
2. CuidadoDeSalud.gov (CMS) · Período Especial de Inscripción (SEP) (glosario) (external site) · in Spanish · Verified on October 17, 2026
3. HealthCare.gov (CMS) · Getting health coverage outside Open Enrollment (Special Enrollment Periods) (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026