Why most articles about this are wrong
You will read that short-term health plans are limited to three months, or four including renewals. That was the 2024 federal rule. In August 2025 the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Treasury announced they would not prioritize enforcement of it, pending new rulemaking, and encouraged states to do the same.
So the rule is technically on the books and largely unenforced federally. In practice the market has reverted to longer terms in permissive states, and state law now decides almost everything.
Fifteen jurisdictions where you cannot buy one
Prohibited by law
- California — prohibited outright
- Illinois — prohibited outright since January 1, 2025 (Public Act 103-0649)
- Massachusetts — prohibited outright
- New Jersey — prohibited outright
- New York — prohibited outright
Permitted on paper, but no carrier sells them
State rules made the product commercially unviable and insurers withdrew. The practical result is the same.
Available, but tighter than the federal default
- Delaware — limited to 3 months
- Maryland — limited to 3 months and must include mental health and substance use benefits
- New Hampshire — limited to 6 months, rising to 36 months from 2027 under SB607
- Oregon — limited to 3 months including any renewals
- Virginia — limited to 3 months initially, 6 months in any 12, and not sold during Open Enrollment
Every other state follows the federal default. If a website offers you a short-term plan in one of the fifteen above, that tells you something useful about the website.
What these plans actually are
A short-term plan is not comprehensive coverage and is not minimum essential coverage. Specifically, and unlike a marketplace plan, it can:
- Ask about your health history and decline you.
- Exclude pre-existing conditions, including ones you did not know about.
- Omit essential health benefits — maternity, mental health and prescription coverage are commonly missing.
- Apply annual or lifetime caps.
- Decline to renew you if you develop a condition while covered.
Related: what is and is not cheap health insurance · options outside Open Enrollment · rules in your state.
Federal rules require a plain-language notice on the first page of any short-term policy contrasting it with marketplace coverage. If you are shown one of these plans and no such notice appears, that is worth asking about.
Common questions
Are short-term health plans limited to 3 months?
That was the 2024 federal rule, but in August 2025 the federal agencies said they would not prioritize enforcing it. State law now effectively decides duration, and it varies from an outright ban to 364 days with renewals.
Which states ban short-term health insurance?
California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York prohibit them outright. Ten more permit them on paper but have no carriers selling: Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Is a short-term plan the same as a marketplace plan?
No. Short-term plans can decline you for your health history, exclude pre-existing conditions, omit essential benefits like maternity and mental health, and apply caps. They are not minimum essential coverage.
When does a short-term plan make sense?
A short, defined gap — bridging a new employer's waiting period, or a few weeks before marketplace coverage begins. Not as an ongoing substitute for comprehensive coverage.
Why do so many websites get the rules wrong?
Because the federal rule technically still exists while being unenforced, and because state law changed in several places recently. Illinois banned them from January 2025 and New Hampshire is loosening its cap from 2027 — many articles predate both.
Talk it through with a licensed agent
Which option is right depends on your state, your income and which doctors you need to keep. A licensed agent can walk through it with you in about eight minutes.
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Sources
- Federal Register 89 FR 23338, Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurance final rule
- U.S. Department of Labor / HHS / Treasury, Short-Term Limited Duration Insurance statement, August 7, 2025
- Illinois Public Act 103-0649 and DOI Bulletin CB2024-15
- New Hampshire SB607 (2026)
- 45 CFR § 144.103