Availability of short-term health insurance in Montana

Yes. As of early 2026, there were at least three insurers offering short-term health insurance in Montana.

Montana does not limit the duration of short-term health plans, so federal duration limits are applicable. But as mentioned above, the insurers that offer short-term health insurance in Montana have historically chosen to cap their policy durations at six months.

From September 2024 to August 2025, federal rules limited short-term policies to total durations of no more than four months, including renewals. Once the federal government stopped enforcing that limit, insurers in Montana once again began offering policies with duration limits of six months. As of early 2026, we did not find any policies for sale in Montana with durations longer than six months.

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.² But the specific eligibility requirements vary from one insurance company to another.

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).³

Short-term health plans also generally exclude coverage for some of the ACA’s essential health benefits – most commonly, maternity care, prescription drugs, and mental health care.² They also tend to impose 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 need health insurance coverage in Montana, you’ll want to first check to see if you can enroll in an ACA-compliant major medical plan (i.e. an Obamacare plan).

These plans are available during the annual open enrollment period in the fall (November 1 – December 15), and can be purchased through Montana’s federally-run exchange/Marketplace – HealthCare.gov – or directly from one of the health insurance companies that offer policies in the state (premium subsidies and cost-sharing subsidies are only available if you buy your plan through the exchange).

If you’re trying to enroll outside of the open enrollment window, you may be eligible for a special enrollment period if you experience a qualifying life event. (American Indians and Alaska Natives have a year-round special enrollment period, without the need for a qualifying event.)

ACA-compliant plans are purchased on a month-to-month basis, so you can enroll even if you need coverage for a few months before another policy takes effect. For example, if you’ll soon be enrolled in Medicare or an employer’s plan, you can sign up for a Marketplace plan (assuming it’s during open enrollment or you qualify for a special enrollment period) and then schedule your Marketplace plan to end when your new coverage starts.

There may be situations when you find short-term health insurance as the only realistic option, for example:

• If you missed open enrollment for ACA-compliant coverage and lack a qualifying life event that would trigger a special enrollment period.
• If you’re newly employed and the business has a waiting period of up to three months before you can enroll in the employer-sponsored group healthcare plan (and you’re not eligible to enroll in an ACA-compliant plan or keep another employer’s plan via COBRA/state continuation).
• If you’ll soon be eligible for Medicare and don’t have access to any other coverage before then. You can use a short-term plan to bridge the gap, although it’s recommended that you enroll in an ACA-compliant plan if an enrollment opportunity presents itself before your Medicare coverage takes effect (you’ll be able to cancel the plan when your Medicare begins).
• If you’ve already enrolled in an ACA-compliant plan or an employer’s plan but have to wait several weeks before the coverage takes effect and need just-in-case coverage in the meantime.
• 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.

Montana’s insurance commissioner took action against several short-term health insurers and insurance producers in 2016, alleging that they had sold short-term plans to Montana residents without adequate licensing, and without communicating the fact that these plans didn’t cover pre-existing conditions, didn’t count as health insurance in terms of avoiding the individual mandate penalty (which applied from 2014 through 2018, and was assessed on people who were enrolled in short-term health plans) and could not be considered comprehensive coverage.

The issue was resolved with an agreement that refunds would be offered to residents who had purchased the policies in question.

The Montana insurance commissioner’s office subsequently secured nearly $285,000 in restitution that could be paid to as many as 3,645 policyholders in Montana, although people had to demonstrate that they were misled by one of the insurers or agents deceptively marketing short-term plans between 2012 and 2016. The primary insurer in the case was Health Insurance Innovations, but several other insurers and individuals paid into the restitution fund.