Availability of short-term health insurance in Wyoming

Yes. As of 2024, there were at least four insurers offering short-term health insurance in Wyoming.

The average monthly premium for a short-term health insurance plan sold in Wyoming was $378.76 in 2023, according to data from IHC Specialty Benefits.

Under federal rules that were finalized in 2018, short-term medical plans can have initial durations of up to 364 days. Renewals are permitted as long as the total duration of the coverage doesn’t exceed 36 months.

However, the federal government finalized a rule change in 2024 that will sharply limit the duration of these plans starting in September 2024. Under the new rules, the total duration of short-term policies is limited to no more than four months, including renewals.

Short-term health insurance in Wyoming can be purchased by applicants who can meet an insurer’s underwriting guidelines.

Most insurers will sell short-term health insurance to people under 65 years of age, as long as they don’t have a medical condition that will result in a declined application.¹ But the specific requirements vary from one insurance company to another.

Short-term health insurance plans usually include blanket exclusions for pre-existing conditions, and they often use post-claims underwriting (meaning that they will go back through a person’s medical records after a claim is filed, to make sure it isn’t related to a pre-existing medical condition).²

Most short-term health plans do not cover all of the ACA’s essential health benefits; the most commonly excluded are maternity care, prescription drugs, and mental health care.¹ They also generally have limits on how much they’ll pay in benefits. It’s important to double-check all of the plan information before purchasing a short-term policy, to make sure that you understand the limitations of the plan.

If you’re in need of health insurance coverage in Wyoming outside of the annual open enrollment period for ACA-compliant major medical plans (ie, an Obamacare plan; open enrollment runs from November 1 to January 15), first check if you qualify for a special enrollment period.

There are many qualifying life events that will trigger a special enrollment period and allow you to buy a plan through Wyoming’s health insurance exchange/marketplace (HealthCare.gov) or directly from one of the insurers that offer ACA-compliant individual/family coverage in Wyoming).

Note that financial assistance (premium subsidies and cost-sharing reductions) is only available if you buy the plan through the exchange/marketplace.

Marketplace plans are purchased on a month-to-month basis, so you can enroll in coverage even for only a few months until another policy takes effect (with a premium subsidy if you’re eligible). So if you’ll soon be eligible for an employer-sponsored plan or Medicare, you can still sign up for a policy through the marketplace/exchange, and then cancel it when your other coverage starts.

There are times when short-term coverage might be the only realistic option, such as:

• If you missed open enrollment for ACA-compliant coverage and do not have a qualifying event that would trigger a special enrollment period.
• You’re waiting for Medicare to start, or you’re newly employed and have a waiting period before your employer will provide health benefits. If you also qualify for a Marketplace special enrollment period, you can instead choose to enroll in an ACA-compliant plan and cancel it when your new plan takes effect.
• If an existing plan is terminating mid-month, and a new plan doesn’t take effect until the start of the following month. In this case, a short-term plan can be used to cover the gap, although COBRA might be a better fall-back plan, depending on the circumstances (COBRA is retroactive if you sign up during the election period that’s offered to you).
• If you’re not eligible for Medicaid or a premium subsidy in the exchange, the monthly premiums for an ACA-compliant plan might be too costly, especially in a state like Wyoming, where individual major medical coverage is much more expensive than the national average for people who don’t get premium subsidies.

People who are ineligible for premium subsidies include those who are caught in the coverage gap in Wyoming. This applies to people who earn less than the poverty level, but aren’t eligible for Medicaid because Wyoming has thus far refused to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

There is normally an income cap for subsidy eligibility, equal to 400% of the federal poverty level. That income limit has been eliminated through the end of 2025, which means that people can qualify for subsidies even with an income above 400% of the poverty level.

There are no state-specific regulations for short-term health insurance in Wyoming, so the state defaults to the federal guidelines. Federal regulations currently allow for the sale of short-term health plans with initial durations with the option to renew for a total duration of 36 months.

However, as mentioned above, a a rule change in 2024 will limit the duration of short-term plans, capping the duration of short-term coverage at no more than four months, including renewals. This rule will apply to plans sold or issued starting in September 2024.