Health insurance after a layoff in Virginia
When you lose job-based coverage in Virginia, you have a 60-day window to enroll through the Marketplace, plus the option to keep your old plan through COBRA (usually at full price). Virginia runs its own marketplace, Virginia's Insurance Marketplace, at marketplace.virginia.gov. If your income dropped, you may also qualify for Cardinal Care (from 2027, most adults also need to show work or another qualifying activity).
Just laid off? Health coverage is one of five clocks
Severance review, unemployment, COBRA, and the rest: every first-week deadline in one place. Free, no account needed.
Virginia coverage, at a glance
Marketplace
Virginia's Insurance Marketplace (state-run)
Enroll at
marketplace.virginia.gov
Special enrollment
60 days from losing job coverage
Medicaid
Cardinal Care, expanded (to ~138% FPL)
Virginia's Insurance Marketplace is the state-based ACA exchange operated by the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange, a division of the State Corporation Commission; it launched as a full state-based platform in fall 2023.
Subsidies in 2026 and 2027: the enhanced pandemic-era Marketplace subsidies expired December 31, 2025, and as of September 2026 Congress had not restored them. Subsidies still exist but are smaller, and the income cutoff (about 4 times the poverty line) is back, so price your real numbers at marketplace.virginia.gov rather than assuming. If your income dropped a lot, a subsidized Marketplace plan can still beat COBRA.
Your 60-day window covers the rest of 2026. Virginia's Insurance Marketplace sets its own open-enrollment dates for 2027 coverage; check marketplace.virginia.gov before your 60-day window closes.
Cardinal Care in 2027: From January 1, 2027, federal law requires most adults aged 19 to 64 on expansion Medicaid to show 80 hours a month of work, community service, a work program, or half-time school, or earnings of at least 80 times the federal minimum wage ($580 a month in 2026). A state can start sooner, or later if federal officials grant it more time. New applicants show it for the month or months before they apply, so work before a layoff can count. Parents of a child 13 or younger, people who are disabled or medically frail, and some others are exempt.
Both clocks run about 60 days: COBRA gives you 60 days to elect (retroactive to when your plan ended), and the Marketplace gives you a 60-day Special Enrollment window. Don't let either run out.
This is general information, not insurance or financial advice. Confirm plans, prices, and eligibility at marketplace.virginia.gov before you rely on them.
Virginia health coverage FAQ
Where do I buy health insurance in Virginia after a layoff?
Virginia runs its own marketplace, Virginia's Insurance Marketplace. Enroll at marketplace.virginia.gov. Losing job-based coverage opens a 60-day Special Enrollment window, so you don't have to wait for open enrollment. You can also keep your old plan through COBRA, usually at full price.
Do I qualify for Medicaid in Virginia if I lost my job?
Possibly. Virginia expanded Medicaid (Cardinal Care), so adults can qualify based on current monthly income (generally up to 138% of the federal poverty level), and you can apply any time, not just during open enrollment. A job loss can make you newly eligible. From January 1, 2027, federal law requires most adults aged 19 to 64 on expansion Medicaid to show 80 hours a month of work, community service, a work program, or half-time school, or earnings of at least 80 times the federal minimum wage ($580 a month in 2026). A state can start sooner, or later if federal officials grant it more time. New applicants show it for the month or months before they apply, so work before a layoff can count. Parents of a child 13 or younger, people who are disabled or medically frail, and some others are exempt.
How long do I have to get a Marketplace plan in Virginia?
A 60-day Special Enrollment Period that starts when you lose job-based coverage, which covers you for the rest of this year. Subsidies are based on your household income for the whole calendar year, not last year: for 2026 coverage that includes what you earned before the layoff and any severance, so enter your expected full-year income at marketplace.virginia.gov to see your real cost. For 2027 you choose again in open enrollment, priced on what you expect to earn in 2027. Virginia's Insurance Marketplace sets its own open-enrollment dates for 2027 coverage; check marketplace.virginia.gov before your 60-day window closes.
Keep going
COBRA vs. the Marketplace, compared
The two 60-day windows, the real costs, and the 2026 subsidy change.
File for unemployment in Virginia
The official Virginia portal, the waiting week, and what to have ready.
Was your layoff covered by WARN in Virginia?
Where Virginia posts mass-layoff notices, and the 60-day notice rule.
Health coverage in another state
Where to enroll and the Medicaid rules for every other state.
Reviewed September 2026, unchanged since September 2026. Marketplaces, subsidies, and Medicaid rules change; confirm current details at the official Virginia site (marketplace.virginia.gov) or healthcare.gov before relying on them.