Health Insurance for Travel Therapists

If your insurance is tied to your agency, switching agencies means switching insurance — which can disrupt coverage and limit your options.

By getting your own insurance (Marketplace plan or short-term plan), you're free to switch agencies between contracts based purely on who offers the better pay and housing stipend — the state-by-state medians in the Travel Therapy Pay Index make those offers easy to compare. This is how experienced travelers maximize their housing pocket money.

Short-term health insurance plans can last up to 12 months. They're completely independent from your employer — perfect for travelers who want maximum agency flexibility. Coverage starts as fast as the next day.

Under 26: Stay on parent's plan. Marketplace: Subsidies based on lower W-2 income. Continuous coverage. Spouse's plan: Eliminates the variable. Agency plans: Convenient but check waiting periods, premiums, and what happens between contracts.

Full insurance guide at TravelTherapistInfo.com.

Between contracts, the rules that decide whether you can buy or keep coverage are federal ones. Here they are as HealthCare.gov and the U.S. Department of Labor state them:

• Losing job-based coverage: “For this Special Enrollment Period, you need to apply for Marketplace coverage within 60 days of losing your job-based coverage. Your coverage can start the first day of the month after you lose your job-based coverage.” (HealthCare.gov, If you lose job-based health insurance, read 2026-10-06)
• Special Enrollment Period: “You may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period if you or anyone in your household lost qualifying health coverage in the past 60 days OR expects to lose coverage in the next 60 days .” (HealthCare.gov, Special Enrollment Period, read 2026-10-06)
• Open Enrollment: “November 1 - January 15 each year” (HealthCare.gov, Special Enrollment Period, read 2026-10-06)
• COBRA: “COBRA coverage lets you pay to stay on your job-based health insurance for a limited time after your job ends (usually 18 months). You usually pay the full premium yourself, plus a small administrative fee.” (HealthCare.gov, If you lose job-based health insurance, read 2026-10-06)
• Who must offer COBRA: “COBRA generally requires that group health plans sponsored by employers with 20 or more employees in the prior year offer employees and their families the opportunity for a temporary extension of health coverage” (U.S. Department of Labor, Continuation of Health Coverage (COBRA), read 2026-10-06)
• Ending COBRA early: “If you choose to end COBRA coverage early, you’ll have to wait until next Open Enrollment to get Marketplace coverage” (HealthCare.gov, COBRA coverage when you're unemployed, read 2026-10-06)