You must have a valid what to experience a Special Enrollment Period to enroll outside of Open Enrollment?

To experience a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) and enroll in health coverage outside of Open Enrollment, an individual must have a valid qualifying life event. Qualifying life events are specific situations that significantly change an individual's circumstances and include events such as marriage, the birth of a child, loss of other health coverage, or moving to a new area. These events trigger the opportunity to enroll in a health plan, allowing individuals to obtain necessary coverage when they would otherwise be locked into their current plan.

The other options, while related to aspects of health insurance, do not qualify one for a Special Enrollment Period. For instance, the second lowest cost silver plan is a reference point for determining subsidies in health coverage but does not itself provide grounds for a Special Enrollment Period. Essential health benefits describe the categories of health services that must be covered in qualified health plans but are not linked to the enrollment timeline. Data matching issues may arise during the application process but do not constitute a qualifying life event that would enable enrollment outside of the designated periods.