Waiting Period

A waiting period is the time between when an employee is hired and when their health coverage starts. The Affordable Care Act caps it at 90 days for employers subject to the law, and many employers use "first of the month following 30 or 60 days of employment."

The gap is where people get caught. A new hire who starts on January 10 with a first-of-the-month-after-60-days rule is covered on April 1, which leaves nearly three months without employer coverage. If the old job's coverage ended in January, the options are COBRA from the prior employer, a short-term plan, a marketplace plan under the special enrollment period, or going without. A single emergency room visit in that window averages over $2,000 before any imaging, and an appendectomy at hospital cash rates can run $15,000 to $30,000. Some employers waive the waiting period for people who had coverage the day before they started; it's worth asking.

The takeaway: before you give notice at one job, find out the exact coverage start date at the next one, and plan the gap. If you need care in between, ask facilities for their cash price before you go in.