Availability of short-term health insurance in New Hampshire

Yes. As of 2025, one insurance company — Golden Rule — offers short-term health insurance in New Hampshire.¹

Short-term health insurance in New Hampshire can’t exceed six months in duration, and cannot be renewed.²¹

New Hampshire rules also clarify that a short-term plan cannot be issued to anyone in New Hampshire who has had more than 540 days of short-term coverage in the past 24 months. So a person can’t have more than a year and a half of short-term coverage in a given two-year period.³

From September 2024 until August 2025, federal rules were more restrictive, capping short-term policies at no more than four months in duration. But the Trump administration announced in August 2025 that they would no longer prioritize enforcement of that rule, and encouraged states to follow suit.⁴

The New Hampshire Insurance Department confirmed by email in November 2025 that they are allowing short-term policies to be sold with terms of up to six months, but renewals are not allowed under state rules.¹

Legislation introduced in New Hampshire in late 2025 would remove the state’s six-month limit and its rule limiting short-term insurance for any resident to no more than 540 days of short-term coverage in the past 24 months.⁵ If enacted, this legislation would allow New Hampshire’s short-term policies to align with federal rules (under the Trump administration’s relaxed enforcement policies, this would mean initial terms of up to 12 months, and total duration, including renewals, of up to three years).

Golden Rule (United Healthcare) offers short-term health insurance in New Hampshire as of 2025.¹

Most short-term health plans can be purchased by people who are younger than 65 and who do not have any of the short list of medical conditions that will result in a declined application.⁶ But the specific eligibility requirements are set by the insurance company that sells the policies, and these plans are not subject to ACA regulations.

Short-term health insurance plans tend to exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions, and they often use post-claims underwriting (meaning that they will go back through a person’s medical records after a claim is filed, to make sure it isn’t related to a pre-existing medical condition).⁷

Short-term health plans also generally exclude coverage for some of the ACA’s essential health benefits. For example, it’s common to see no coverage for services such as maternity care, prescription drugs, and mental health care.⁶ Short-term plans also tend to have dollar limits on their coverage. It’s important to double-check all of the plan information before purchasing a short-term policy, to make sure that you understand the limitations of the plan.

If you’re in New Hampshire and need health insurance, your first step should be to see whether you’re eligible to enroll in an ACA-compliant major medical plan.

These plans can be obtained during open enrollment (November 1 through January 15) or during a special enrollment period. There are a variety of qualifying life events that will trigger a special enrollment period and allow you to buy a plan through the health insurance exchange/Marketplace in New Hampshire (HealthCare.gov).

ACA-compliant major medical plans are purchased on a month-to-month basis, so you can enroll in a plan even if you only need coverage for a few months before another policy takes effect.

And if your annual household income makes you eligible for a premium subsidy, you might find that an ACA-compliant plan is much less expensive than you expected (you can qualify for a premium subsidy that will be prorated for just the months you need coverage, as long as your total annual income makes you eligible for a subsidy).

The New Hampshire Insurance Department has a guide for consumers, outlining the questions people should ask themselves before opting for a short-term medical plan.

Depending on the circumstances, there may be times when a short-term health plan might be the only realistic option, or the best option to meet your needs for a short while, such as:

• If you missed open enrollment for ACA-compliant coverage and do not have a qualifying event that would trigger a special enrollment period (note that the short-term policy can only last for up to six months in New Hampshire and cannot be renewed, so it will not provide full-year coverage).
• If you’re newly employed and the coverage that your employer provides has a waiting period. In that case, a short-term plan could cover you against unexpected medical costs while you wait for your new job-sponsored coverage to take effect (if you also have a qualifying event, you could enroll in an ACA-compliant plan through the New Hampshire Health Insurance Marketplace instead, and cancel it when your employer’s coverage takes effect).
• If you’ll be enrolled in Medicare within the next few months, but need coverage until that point and don’t have access to an employer-sponsored plan or a qualifying event that would allow you to sign up for an ACA-compliant plan through the New Hampshire marketplace. Note that although Medicare covers pre-existing conditions regardless of coverage history, Medigap insurers can impose a pre-existing condition waiting period if the policy you had before enrolling in Medicare did not cover your pre-existing conditions.
• If you’re losing access to an employer’s plan mid-month, you can use a short-term policy to cover you for the rest of that month. But note that the Health Insurance Marketplace will allow you to enroll in a Marketplace plan effective the first of the month when your coverage will end (instead of the first of the following month, which was the only option prior to 2024).⁸ This would result in double coverage for the first part of the month, but would eliminate the need for a short-term bridge plan. (Note that if COBRA or state continuation is available, you can use that as a fall-back plan instead, since coverage would be retroactive to the date you lost your employer-sponsored coverage.)
• If you’re not eligible for Medicaid or a premium subsidy in the exchange, the monthly premiums for an ACA-compliant plan might be unaffordable. But again, short-term health insurance can no longer serve as a full-year coverage option.

Learn more about Medicaid in New Hampshire, which might be an option depending on your current monthly household income, and which would provide more robust coverage than a short-term health plan.

The Granite State has its own regulations and coverage requirements pertaining to short-term health insurance in New Hampshire. The state has also published guidance and information for consumers, highlighting the many ways that short-term healthcare insurance plans offer less robust protections than ACA-compliant plans.

Until October 2, 2018, federal regulations limited short-term plans to no more than three months in duration, and prohibited renewals. But the Trump administration changed the rules at that point, allowing much longer durations for short-term insurance. If states have their own restrictions, however, the state rules apply instead, and New Hampshire is an example of this.

The Biden administration’s stricter rules took effect in September 2024, and supersede more lenient state rules. There were no short-term policies available for sale in New Hampshire in much of 2023 and 2024, but policies are available for purchase in 2025.

As noted above, the Trump administration stopped prioritizing enforcement of the Biden administration rules in August 2025, allowing New Hampshire to revert to its own rules that cap short-term policies at six months in duration.