You can enroll in health coverage through Get Covered Illinois if you're a freelancer, consultant, independent contractor or other self-employed worker who doesn't have any employees. You're considered self-employed if you have a business that takes in income but doesn't have any employees other than yourself, a spouse or a family member.
Make sure to apply and enroll in coverage through Get Covered Illinois during open enrollment, which takes place November 1, 2025 – January 15, 2026.
By submitting a Get Covered Illinois application, you’ll find out if you qualify for:
- Financial help to lower your monthly cost of coverage. This will be based on your income and household size.
- Free or low-cost coverage through Medicaid or All Kids.
Self-employment income and Get Covered Illinois savings:
- When you fill out a Get Covered Illinois application, you'll have to estimate your net self-employment income. Eligibility for financial help is based on your estimated net income for the year you're getting coverage, not last year's income.
- If you leave a job for any reason and lose job-based insurance, you can purchase coverage using a special enrollment period. You have 60 days from when your job-based insurance ends to enroll.
- If you have income that's hard to predict: You can apply with your best estimate of what you expect to make for the year. Your savings will be based on that estimate. When your income changes, you can update your application to adjust your coverage and savings.
You can choose from four categories of coverage from Get Covered Illinois, from plans with low premiums that mainly protect you in worst-case scenarios to plans where you'll pay more each month but less out-of-pocket when you access healthcare services.
- If you're under 30 or have a hardship exemption, you can pick a catastrophic plan - an inexpensive way to protect yourself from worst-case scenarios.
Also See: